UKIP Economics Spokesman Mark Reckless responds to Wednesday's Spending Review and Autumn Statement: "It is clearly evident that UKIP is now the only tax cutting party.
"The Chancellor had promised he would eliminate the deficit by the end of the last Parliament. Now he claims he will eliminate it by the end of this Parliament. But who really believes that, or the Chancellor’s convenient claims that borrowing will fall to less than £50 billion (£49.9 billion) next year and less than £25 billion (£24.8 billion) in 2017/18?
"Doesn't George Osborne realise our deficit is one of the largest of the world when almost all other countries have cut theirs? Why, having promised an 80/20 split between spending cuts and tax rises, is he now relying increasingly on tax rises, an insurance tax hike this month, and now a 2% centrally mandated increase in council tax plus potentially large rises in police precept?
"The answer is that spending is now projected to rise by over £100 billion over the Parliament, from £750 billion this year to £857 billion in 2020/21. That is because, as well as protecting areas where the country supports spending, such as the NHS, schools and, finally, defence, the Government is throwing away vast sums on the wrong spending priorities.
"As well as increasing our contribution to the EU to £55 million a day, the government has now increased our spending on overseas aid to £30 million a day, rising to nearly £40 million per day by the end of the parliament. There will be more spent, we have learnt today, on overseas aid than the government spends on the Home Office, including our police. Surely this is insane when the greatest threat to the people of this country is terrorism.
"Despite the Chancellor’s claims today, from next year the Government will be cutting spending on the Home Office, including the police, from £11.2 billion next year to £11.0 billion in 2018/19, a substantial cut in real terms.
