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| Budget 2015: What George Osborne said.. and what the Chancellor really meant | Budget 2015: What George Osborne said.. and what the Chancellor really meant |
| (6 months later) | |
| What he said This will be a Budget for working people… This is the new settlement. | What he said This will be a Budget for working people… This is the new settlement. |
| From a one-nation Government, this is a one-nation Budget that takes the necessary steps and follows a sensible path for the benefit of the whole of the United Kingdom. And this is a Budget that can only be delivered because the British people trusted us to finish the job. | From a one-nation Government, this is a one-nation Budget that takes the necessary steps and follows a sensible path for the benefit of the whole of the United Kingdom. And this is a Budget that can only be delivered because the British people trusted us to finish the job. |
| What he meant This will be a Labour Budget. You may have thought we were lucky to win the election on the back of scaremongering about Nicola Sturgeon, but I’m going to pretend it was a big social change. We won and we’re going to use all your best ideas. | What he meant This will be a Labour Budget. You may have thought we were lucky to win the election on the back of scaremongering about Nicola Sturgeon, but I’m going to pretend it was a big social change. We won and we’re going to use all your best ideas. |
| What he said You only have to look at the crisis unfolding in Greece as I speak, to realise that if a country’s not in control of its borrowing, the borrowing takes control of the country. | What he said You only have to look at the crisis unfolding in Greece as I speak, to realise that if a country’s not in control of its borrowing, the borrowing takes control of the country. |
| What he meant Do you want old people to sit weeping outside closed banks? Well, it’s never going to happen here because we’re not in the euro, but I did have “Greece” in the office sweepstake. | What he meant Do you want old people to sit weeping outside closed banks? Well, it’s never going to happen here because we’re not in the euro, but I did have “Greece” in the office sweepstake. |
| Osborne explains why we shouldn't reduce the deficit faster (BBC)What he said That brings me to the first of the key judgements in this Budget: how fast do we cut the deficit? And my answer is this: we should cut the deficit at the same pace as we did in the last Parliament. We shouldn’t go faster. We shouldn’t go slower. | |
| What he meant Faster? What fool suggested that? Oh, me, five years ago. Well, I ended up following Alistair Darling’s plan to halve the deficit and we won the election so I’ll do that again. | What he meant Faster? What fool suggested that? Oh, me, five years ago. Well, I ended up following Alistair Darling’s plan to halve the deficit and we won the election so I’ll do that again. |
| What he said At this pace the national debt is lower as a share of our national income in every future year than when I presented the Budget in March. And it is achieved without a rollercoaster ride in public spending. | What he said At this pace the national debt is lower as a share of our national income in every future year than when I presented the Budget in March. And it is achieved without a rollercoaster ride in public spending. |
| What he meant That will teach that Novak Djokovic lookalike Robert Chote at the Office for Budget Responsibility to accuse me of a rollercoaster path of spending plans. I changed them. | What he meant That will teach that Novak Djokovic lookalike Robert Chote at the Office for Budget Responsibility to accuse me of a rollercoaster path of spending plans. I changed them. |
| What he said We will take these decisions in a balanced and fair way. I can confirm that the analysis produced today shows that the richest are paying a greater share of tax than they were at the start of the last Parliament. | What he said We will take these decisions in a balanced and fair way. I can confirm that the analysis produced today shows that the richest are paying a greater share of tax than they were at the start of the last Parliament. |
| And more than that, we are continuing to devote a greater share of state support to the most vulnerable. As I said they would – those with the broadest shoulders are bearing the greatest burden. For we are all in this together. | And more than that, we are continuing to devote a greater share of state support to the most vulnerable. As I said they would – those with the broadest shoulders are bearing the greatest burden. For we are all in this together. |
| What he meant That’s the passage that Ed Balls would have wanted to deliver. But we won and so I can steal all their best lines and Harriet Harman hasn’t time to read the small print of the analysis to find out if it’s true. | What he meant That’s the passage that Ed Balls would have wanted to deliver. But we won and so I can steal all their best lines and Harriet Harman hasn’t time to read the small print of the analysis to find out if it’s true. |
| What he said And, in the last fortnight we’ve seen independent statistics showing that since 2010, child poverty is down and so is inequality. That comes on top of a record number of women in work, and the gender pay gap at an all-time low. | What he said And, in the last fortnight we’ve seen independent statistics showing that since 2010, child poverty is down and so is inequality. That comes on top of a record number of women in work, and the gender pay gap at an all-time low. |
| What he meant Just sayin’. | What he meant Just sayin’. |
| Tax imbalances? Or tax rises? (EPA)What he said We’ve found annual savings of £12bn from welfare and £5bn from tackling tax evasion, avoidance, aggressive tax planning and imbalances in the tax system. | |
| What he meant Tackling tax evasion is the first resort of any chancellor looking for the odd billion, but it doesn’t produce £5bn a year. So I’ve renamed “tax rises” and called them “imbalances in the tax system”. Old George Bush Snr could have learned from me. He should have said, “Read my lips: no new imbalances in the tax system.” | What he meant Tackling tax evasion is the first resort of any chancellor looking for the odd billion, but it doesn’t produce £5bn a year. So I’ve renamed “tax rises” and called them “imbalances in the tax system”. Old George Bush Snr could have learned from me. He should have said, “Read my lips: no new imbalances in the tax system.” |
| What he said I am today abolishing permanent non-dom tax status. Anyone resident in the UK for more than 15 of the past 20 years will now pay full British taxes on all worldwide income and gains. | What he said I am today abolishing permanent non-dom tax status. Anyone resident in the UK for more than 15 of the past 20 years will now pay full British taxes on all worldwide income and gains. |
| What he meant Ed Miliband caught us out with this in the election campaign. But we won so we get to implement it. | What he meant Ed Miliband caught us out with this in the election campaign. But we won so we get to implement it. |
| What he said Four fifths of all journeys in this country are by road, yet we rank behind Puerto Rico and Namibia in the quality of our network. | What he said Four fifths of all journeys in this country are by road, yet we rank behind Puerto Rico and Namibia in the quality of our network. |
| What he meant I am now just making stuff up. Who won the election after all? | What he meant I am now just making stuff up. Who won the election after all? |
| What he said When we reformed student funding in the last Parliament we were told by those who so opportunistically opposed us that it would put people from low-income backgrounds off from going to university. Instead we now see a record number of these students applying and succeeding. It is a triumph of progressive reform. | What he said When we reformed student funding in the last Parliament we were told by those who so opportunistically opposed us that it would put people from low-income backgrounds off from going to university. Instead we now see a record number of these students applying and succeeding. It is a triumph of progressive reform. |
| What he meant “Progressive” is a favourite word in Labour wonk-land. This will short-circuit all their synapses. | What he meant “Progressive” is a favourite word in Labour wonk-land. This will short-circuit all their synapses. |
| What he said One of the first pieces of advice I received in the Treasury was to cancel the plan for the Crick Institute, Tate Modern extension and Crossrail – but I rejected that advice, because I’ve always believed it’s to our nation’s great advantage that we have one of the world’s great capitals. | What he said One of the first pieces of advice I received in the Treasury was to cancel the plan for the Crick Institute, Tate Modern extension and Crossrail – but I rejected that advice, because I’ve always believed it’s to our nation’s great advantage that we have one of the world’s great capitals. |
| What he meant And I’m cleverer than Treasury mandarins, too. Who won the election? The Treasury Civil Servants’ Party? | What he meant And I’m cleverer than Treasury mandarins, too. Who won the election? The Treasury Civil Servants’ Party? |
| In pictures: Anti-austerity protest outside Downing Street 7 show all In pictures: Anti-austerity protest outside Downing Street 1/7 London Anti-austerity protesters shout slogans outside Downing Street as the Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne left 11 Downing Street 2/7 London Anti-austerity protesters gather outside Downing Street as the Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne left 11 Downing Street in London 3/7 London Anti-austerity protester spekas outside Downing Street as the Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne presents his summer budget to Parliament and is expected to announce £12 billion in welfare cuts 4/7 London Anti-austerity protesters prepare to throw balls towards Downing Street 5/7 London Anti-austerity protester outside Downing Street 6/7 London Police clear up balloons left at the entrance to Downing Street 7/7 London Anti-austerity protesters throw balls towards Downing Street | |
| What he said The Scottish Government will soon have to answer the question: “You’ve got the powers, when are you going to use them?” | What he said The Scottish Government will soon have to answer the question: “You’ve got the powers, when are you going to use them?” |
| What he meant Then there’s the SNP. I hate them too. We won the referendum. So they can get lost. | What he meant Then there’s the SNP. I hate them too. We won the referendum. So they can get lost. |
| What he said Today we go further in building the Northern Powerhouse. I can today announce that I have reached agreement with the leaders of the 10 councils of Greater Manchester to devolve further powers to the city. | What he said Today we go further in building the Northern Powerhouse. I can today announce that I have reached agreement with the leaders of the 10 councils of Greater Manchester to devolve further powers to the city. |
| What he meant It doesn’t amount to much, but the slogan annoys Labour MPs, who think the north of England belongs to them. | What he meant It doesn’t amount to much, but the slogan annoys Labour MPs, who think the north of England belongs to them. |
| What he said The left will never know this. The wish to pass something on to your children is about the most basic, human and natural aspiration there is. | What he said The left will never know this. The wish to pass something on to your children is about the most basic, human and natural aspiration there is. |
| What he meant I’m stealing all the centre ground from Labour, but that gives me the chance to do popular right-wing things too. | What he meant I’m stealing all the centre ground from Labour, but that gives me the chance to do popular right-wing things too. |
| What he said It was the Conservatives who first protected people in the mills. | What he said It was the Conservatives who first protected people in the mills. |
| What he meant Now that I have claimed most of today’s centre ground, I’m going to rewrite history. | What he meant Now that I have claimed most of today’s centre ground, I’m going to rewrite history. |
| What he said The OBR today say that the new National Living Wage will have, in their words, only a “fractional” effect on jobs. | What he said The OBR today say that the new National Living Wage will have, in their words, only a “fractional” effect on jobs. |
| What he meant Yes, it will put people out of work – as we would have pointed out if Labour had suggested it. But we won, and it’s only “fractional”, so that’s all right. | What he meant Yes, it will put people out of work – as we would have pointed out if Labour had suggested it. But we won, and it’s only “fractional”, so that’s all right. |
| What he said A plan for working people. One purpose. One policy. One nation. | What he said A plan for working people. One purpose. One policy. One nation. |
| What he meant Two purposes, actually: to win the Tory leadership in the 2018 tax year, and to push whichever nobody takes over Labour well off the centre ground for years. I shall win the next election as leader of the Working People’s Party. | What he meant Two purposes, actually: to win the Tory leadership in the 2018 tax year, and to push whichever nobody takes over Labour well off the centre ground for years. I shall win the next election as leader of the Working People’s Party. |