Breaking records

Alistair Darling's second pre-Budget report unveiled the breaking of many recent records. The largest up front tax cuts since Nigel Lawson's spring 1988 Budget will boost the economy from next year onwards. But they also contribute to forecasts for the level of public borrowing and underlying public sector net debt that are higher than anything hereto seen in recent UK history. To reduce borrowing and debt from April 2010, the Chancellor is relying more on tighter plans for public spending than he is on raising measures on net tax. With neither a firm commitment to adhere to these spending plans nor any scaling back of aspirations for improving public services and reducing poverty, the credibility of these spending plans is called into question.