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Cabinet discussing spending cuts Cabinet discussing spending cuts
(about 3 hours later)
Chancellor Alistair Darling has begun holding meetings with cabinet members to look at possible spending cuts, the BBC has learned. Chancellor Alistair Darling has begun holding one-to-one meetings with cabinet members to look at possible spending cuts, the BBC has learned.
PM Gordon Brown admitted this week cuts are needed in "unnecessary" spending.PM Gordon Brown admitted this week cuts are needed in "unnecessary" spending.
Cabinet ministers are being asked which programmes they believe could be sacrificed and which should be spared. Ministers are being asked which programmes they believe could be sacrificed and which should be spared.
The Tories have accused Mr Brown of keeping the truth about spending cuts from the public and MPs after he spent months denying they were needed.The Tories have accused Mr Brown of keeping the truth about spending cuts from the public and MPs after he spent months denying they were needed.
BBC political editor Nick Robinson said it marked a change of approach by the government and followed an exercise carried out by Treasury officials over the summer. Official borrowing figures out on Friday show public sector net borrowing reached £16.1bn in August.
ID cards Spending priorities
Some savings are expected to be revealed in the chancellor's autumn Pre-Budget Report. Mr Darling is understood to have persuaded Mr Brown to admit publicly that cuts will be needed, something he did for the first time in a speech to the TUC on Tuesday, although he said Labour would not "support cuts in the vital front-line services".
And he said a series of senior ministers believed that the controversial ID cards project would have to go, although they did believe it would make the savings quoted by the Tories and Lib Dems, who both say they would axe the scheme. And the chancellor is now expected to include more detail than previously expected about where the axe might fall in his autumn Pre-Budget Report, in an attempt to put pressure on the Conservatives to spell out their planned cuts, the BBC's Political Editor Nick Robinson says.
Consideration is being given to the idea that the cabinet as a whole should agree where the spending axe should fall so that, as a previous chancellor once graphically put it, all get to dip their hands in the blood Nick Robinson, BBC political editor class="" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/nickrobinson/">Read Nick's blog in full class="" href="/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/8261875.stm">Cameron 'trusted more' over cuts class="" href="/2/hi/uk_news/politics/8258999.stm">Q&A: Spending cuts ANALYSIS Nick Robinson, BBC political editor
The Home Office says no talks have taken place about scrapping ID cards. I am hearing from a series of senior ministers in the cabinet that they believe the ID cards programme should now go.
Over the summer Treasury officials looked at the scope for savings in areas covering around a half of government expenditure - for example the use of space in hospitals and quangos with overlapping responsibilities. They insist it would not actually save a lot of money, that's because much of the money, they say, is already being spent on giving us biometric passports.
The BBC understands Mr Darling has now begun holding one-to-one meetings with cabinet colleagues to establish their spending priorities and to identify possible savings in their departments. And they say the additional cost of giving people ID cards may be as little as £40m - those figures are disputed depending on whether you are in favour of ID cards or not.
Meanwhile the Liberal Democrats' Treasury spokesman, Vince Cable has hinted that tax rises are on the way to help address the £175bn budget deficit expected by the end of this financial year. But what is interesting is that senior ministers say, for symbolic value alone, they believe the ID card programme should be scrapped.
Tax hints The Home Office insists no such talks have taken place but that they are looking for value for money savings on the programme. class="" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/nickrobinson/">Read Nick's blog class="" href="/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/8261875.stm">Cameron 'trusted more' over cuts class="" href="/2/hi/uk_news/politics/8258999.stm">Q&A: Spending cuts class="" href="/2/hi/business/8262434.stm">Public sector borrowing soaring class="" href="http://newsforums.bbc.co.uk/nol/thread.jspa?forumID=7021&edition=2">Send us your comments
The Comprehensive Spending Review, which sets departmental budgets for the following four years, has been delayed until after an election.
But Treasury officials spent the summer examining ways to make savings now, particularly in areas where quangos and government departments have overlapping responsibilities.
They are believed to have identified about £4bn of potential savings so far, by improving the use of space in hospitals and police working methods.
The BBC understands Mr Darling has now begun holding one-to-one meetings with cabinet colleagues to establish their spending priorities and to identify possible savings in their departments, although it is not thought they will be talking in terms of percentage cuts to budgets.
Nick Robinson says some ministers favour scrapping the controversial ID cards scheme but the Home Office has said there have been no discussions about this.
The Ministry of Defence has also ruled out cancelling the replacement for the Trident nuclear weapons system, although there have been suggestions it could be scaled back from four submarines to three, he adds.
Tax rises
The campaign group Greenpeace has said in a report scrapping Trident would save £34bn - the government estimates that replacing the submarines and warheads would cost £15bn - £20bn.
Meanwhile the Liberal Democrats' Treasury spokesman, Vince Cable has suggested tax rises will be needed to help address the £175bn budget deficit expected by the end of this financial year.
He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that the "pain" of the economic crisis had been absorbed by government borrowing, which could not be sustained for many years.He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that the "pain" of the economic crisis had been absorbed by government borrowing, which could not be sustained for many years.
FROM THE TODAY PROGRAMME More from Today programme
A future government would have to find between £80bn and £100bn over the next Parliament, he said.A future government would have to find between £80bn and £100bn over the next Parliament, he said.
He accepted the ten proposals he had spelled out as possible areas for cuts - including freezing civil service pay, scrapping ID cards and axing the Trident nuclear programme - were not sufficient.He accepted the ten proposals he had spelled out as possible areas for cuts - including freezing civil service pay, scrapping ID cards and axing the Trident nuclear programme - were not sufficient.
"This doesn't add up to the full scale of cuts that are required and I fully acknowledge that," he said."This doesn't add up to the full scale of cuts that are required and I fully acknowledge that," he said.
"It is eventually going to be a combination of spending and tax measures.""It is eventually going to be a combination of spending and tax measures."
The prime minister admitted for the first time on Tuesday that spending cuts would be needed, saying he would "cut costs, cut inefficiencies, cut unnecessary programmes and cut lower priority budgets". Shadow chancellor George Osborne has claimed that leaked Treasury documents show Mr Brown "misled" Parliament on the scale of planned spending cuts - something denied by Downing Street.
But he said Labour would not "support cuts in the vital front-line services on which people depend".
Shadow chancellor George Osborne has claimed that leaked Treasury documents show Mr Brown "misled" Parliament on the scale of planned spending cuts.
The papers suggest the government is preparing 9.3% cuts in departmental budgets over the four years from 2010, Mr Osborne said. Mr Brown has repeatedly accused the Conservatives of planning 10% cuts.The papers suggest the government is preparing 9.3% cuts in departmental budgets over the four years from 2010, Mr Osborne said. Mr Brown has repeatedly accused the Conservatives of planning 10% cuts.
Downing Street has rejected the claims, saying "the prime minister would never mislead Parliament".
Meanwhile, a poll for BBC Two's Newsnight suggests more people think Tory leader David Cameron would make the right cuts in public spending than Gordon Brown.Meanwhile, a poll for BBC Two's Newsnight suggests more people think Tory leader David Cameron would make the right cuts in public spending than Gordon Brown.
Of the 1,050 adults canvassed for the programme, 39% said they trusted the Conservatives to make the right choices when it came to spending decisions.Of the 1,050 adults canvassed for the programme, 39% said they trusted the Conservatives to make the right choices when it came to spending decisions.
This compared with 24% for Labour and 17% for the Liberal Democrats.This compared with 24% for Labour and 17% for the Liberal Democrats.
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