Alistair Darling embarrassed by UK Treasury report
Alistair Darling faces ridicule this evening after his own Treasury Department issued a report which suggested a potential £70 billion black hole in public sector finances. In simple terms this means that each taxpayer in the UK will be forced to pay an additional £2000 in taxes to cover the shortfall over the next few years. The Conservatives and other political parties have been quick to criticise Alistair Darling and Gordon Brown for their "over optimistic" forecasts in the last budget.
The report itself contains a survey of 20 independent forecasters who on average believe that the UK budget for the next four years will be £679 billion in deficit against Mister Darling's forecast of a £606 billion deficit. Even though economic forecasters were fairly in-line regarding growth in 2010 of 1.25%, the average for 2011 was 1.9%, 2012 was 2.4% and 2013 was 2.6% against a UK government forecast of economic growth in the region of 3.5% for 2011, 2012 and 2013.
While these figures may seem insignificant, when translated into budget requirements and spending plans they will have a major impact. Slowly but surely Alistair Darling's last budget is starting to unravel and optimistic forecasts appear to be falling by the wayside with even his own Treasury Department at odds with his forecasts in the last budget.
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