George Osborne looking to reduce budgets by 40%
George Osborne, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, has this weekend sent out letters to all ministers of the coalition government asking them to put together cost-saving plans of 25% and potential cost savings of up to 40% for their departments. It is only when George Osborne is in receipt of these very suggestions that he will look at the specifics for each department and arrive at a figure which will need to be reduced from individual departmental budgets.
There is no doubt that this is going to be the toughest budget reduction program in living history and indeed we are unlikely to see the likes of it in many of our lifetimes. The very fact that the government has moved straight to the point is a perfect reflection of David Cameron's willingness to address the problems head-on. There will be pain, there will be heartache, there will be job losses but ultimately in the long-term we should feel the gain.
Over the next few days and weeks we will see various details leaked to the financial press as the government looks to soften the blow when budget cuts are finally announced. We saw this as we approached the emergency budget and this is likely to be an unofficial strategy used in the future.
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