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Opposition rejects Budget as out of touch

12/03/2008

The Conservative leader has rejected the Budget as a dire list of reviews and announcements.

David Cameron accused the chancellor and prime minister of living in a "different world to everyone else" and ignoring the rising cost of living.

In his traditional response to the Budget, Mr Cameron disputed the resilient economic picture presented by the chancellor, insisting "everyone has learnt the cost of living under Labour".

Mr Cameron continued to plough the Conservative line that the government failed to prepare the UK for an economic slowdown. This, he argued, had left the UK with "no room to manoeuvre".

The Conservatives maintain the chancellor had global conditions in his favour when he achieved – and took the credit for - ten years of economic growth and are now reluctant to allow Mr Brown or Mr Darling to distance themselves from the current global turndown.

In particular he focused the blame on Gordon Brown, saying he had "got us into this mess [but] cannot be the person to get us out of it".

Mr Cameron told MPs the chancellor had been "absolutely wrong" to claim Britain is prepared for the economic slowdown, claiming the situation is "truly dreadful".

Rather than criticise the specific policy outlined by the government, Mr Cameron chose to attack the government's competence to lead – shaping up as a key battle ground between the two main parties – arguing the true cost of government is how well they are prepared for when things go wrong.

Mr Cameron did single out the chancellor's reforms of business taxes, criticising any increase in taxation as a "crazy way to respond to a slowdown".

Attacking the government on their vulnerable relationship with big business, the Conservative leader claimed business was falling out of love with Labour.

"The least they expected is competent leadership in uncertain times, all they have got is dithering," he said, citing policies on non-doms and capital gains tax.

Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg picked up on the common theme that the real architect of today's Budget was Gordon Brown, praising him for not moving his lips while his "puppet" chancellor was speaking.

Mr Clegg said this left the chancellor unable to tackle the real cause of the current economic storm because "a monkey never blames its boss".

The Liberal Democrats criticised the 2008 Budget for doing too little for the environment and the poor and special treatment for the rich.

It is a "meagre tinkering Budget," Mr Clegg said, dismissing the additional funding for child poverty as wildly insufficient.

He further accused the government of dropping its green claims in the face of political difficulty.

In short, the Budget has been driven by fiscal incompetence and political desperation, Mr Clegg claimed.

His reaction saw Mr Clegg continue to attempt to portray his party as the genuine opposition to the government, saying Labour had completed its "fiscal fusion" with the Conservatives.