PM in pledge ‘to halve deficit’
Saturday, September 26th, 2009Gordon Brown has told a paper that he will halve the Treasury’s deficit in four years, on the eve of his party’s autumn conference. In an interview with the News of the World the prime minister said he could get the economy under control without massive cuts. Mr Brown was greeted by cheering Labour activists as he arrived in Brighton for the conference on Saturday. And Welsh Secretary Peter Hain said Labour must expose the Tories. In the newspaper interview the prime minister makes the
Whitehall plans massive cuts
Saturday, July 4th, 2009TIMES ONLINEJonathan Oliver, Isabel Oakeshott and David SmithSecret “doomsday” plans for 20% cuts in public spending are being prepared by senior civil servants, who fear politicians are failing to confront the scale of the budget black hole.Whitehall mandarins have begun creating detailed dossiers containing reductions in expenditure that are far deeper than the more modest savings being proposed by Labour and Conservative politicians.The disclosure comes as Gordon Brown faces a mutiny insi