Related News
'Cautious' cuts in budget gap
By Adrian Croft |
September 27, 2010, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
BRITAIN'S new opposition leader Ed Miliband said yesterday he supported "cautious" cuts in the budget deficit, saying government plans for spending cuts were economically dangerous and could damage society adversely.
Miliband, who beat his older brother David by a wafer-thin margin in an election to lead the Labour Party on Saturday, also called for higher taxes on banks and said the former Labour government's backing for deregulation of banks had been wrong.
Miliband, a former cabinet minister, said he accepted the need for some cuts in public spending. He said he saw the proposal on which Labour fought and lost the May election - to halve Britain's record peacetime deficit in four years - as a "starting point" but indicated he would give more of a role to tax rises rather than spending cuts.
The Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition, which took office in May, ending 13 years of Labour rule, has gone much farther than Labour, setting out plans to virtually eliminate the deficit by 2015.
The coalition's plans were "economically dangerous and there are warning signals in our economy," Miliband said, adding he did not agree with Prime Minister David Cameron that the Britain was out of the danger zone.
"They (the coalition) want to say the only thing that matters in our society is to eliminate the structural deficit over the next four years," Miliband said in an interview with the BBC's Andrew Marr. "I don't agree with that because ... that will inflict huge damage on our communities. Deficit reduction 'yes', but at a cautious pace and in a way that is going to help our economy."
Miliband, who beat his older brother David by a wafer-thin margin in an election to lead the Labour Party on Saturday, also called for higher taxes on banks and said the former Labour government's backing for deregulation of banks had been wrong.
Miliband, a former cabinet minister, said he accepted the need for some cuts in public spending. He said he saw the proposal on which Labour fought and lost the May election - to halve Britain's record peacetime deficit in four years - as a "starting point" but indicated he would give more of a role to tax rises rather than spending cuts.
The Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition, which took office in May, ending 13 years of Labour rule, has gone much farther than Labour, setting out plans to virtually eliminate the deficit by 2015.
The coalition's plans were "economically dangerous and there are warning signals in our economy," Miliband said, adding he did not agree with Prime Minister David Cameron that the Britain was out of the danger zone.
"They (the coalition) want to say the only thing that matters in our society is to eliminate the structural deficit over the next four years," Miliband said in an interview with the BBC's Andrew Marr. "I don't agree with that because ... that will inflict huge damage on our communities. Deficit reduction 'yes', but at a cautious pace and in a way that is going to help our economy."
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
