Is Alistair Darling holding back on the truth?
A number of the financial newspapers have picked up on concerns that Alistair Darling is holding back on details regarding the UK governments planned extensive public sector budget cuts. Despite the fact that in his pre-budget report he indicated there were plans afoot to reduce the spiralling budget deficit, the report was very vague on detail, something which impacted upon the gilts market and saw some investors run for the hills.
There has been some concern that the UK government is currently more interested in politics than actually governing the UK as we approach the next general election. From the government's point of view, there is a need to hold back on the expected massacre of the UK public sector which could see significant job cuts and a significant reduction in future investment. This would obviously impact upon Labour government support in the polls next year, hence the reasons why many are suspicious as to why no details have been released.
Pressure will grow over the coming weeks and months for Alistair Darling to "put some meat on the bone" and indeed it is likely we will see leaks from within the government suggesting that there are substantial public sector investment cuts on the way.
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