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Melissa Parvis Sharecast News
04 Dec, 2014 15:01 04 Dec, 2014 16:00

Autumn Statement: Osborne lambasts 'hyperbolic' BBC coverage of spending cuts

Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne said that BBC coverage of future spending cuts following his Autumn Statement was “totally hyperbolic”.

Analysts have predicted that public spending will fall to levels not seen since the Great Depression, as future cuts outlined by Osborne will freeze working-age benefits for two years and lower benefit cuts for working-age households.

In an interview about the spending cuts with the BBC, Osborne said: "I would have thought the BBC had learnt from the last four years that its totally hyperbolic coverage of spending cuts has not been matched by what's actually happened in our country."

He added: "I had all that when you were interviewing me four years ago and has the world fallen in? No it hasn't."

The Office for Budget Responsibility revealed in a report accompanying the chancellor's statement that public spending would fall from £5,650 per head in 2009-2010 to £3,880 in 2019-2020.

Speaking on behalf of The Institute for Fiscal Studies’, Paul Johnson described the proposed cuts as “colossal”, forecasting a "fundamental reimagining of the role of the state".

Even though the budget deficit has decreased by 50% since 2010, Osborne accepted on Wednesday that the government’s finances were not clearing as fast as he had expected.

Meanwhile, Osborne unveiled an £800m stamp duty cut that is projected to benefit around 98% of homebuyers.

The stamp duty overhaul means tax will no longer be payable on the first £125,000 of a property. Above that level, the levy will increase in proportion to the sale price.

According to the Treasury, The new measure will save an average individual £4,500 when buying Britain’s average family home at £275,000.

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