麻豆约拍

The day after he presented the final budget of the Parliament, the Chancellor George Osborne spoke to James Naughtie about what they had achieved over the last term and future plans.

You are only half way there on deficit reduction, Mr Osborne was told by James Naughtie. Are you a "moral failure", in the prime minister's words? He asked.

George Osborne replied that he has met his central target of getting debt falling as a share of national income by the end of the Parliament. "I could have blown that money on a pre-election giveaway, but instead I used the money to pay down debts," the chancellor adds

"We set a target in the first budget which has required a conscious decisions," he said.

Osborne added that he had saved 拢21bn so far in this Parliament but wouldn't elaborate when asked where 拢12bn in welfare cuts would come from.

"Cuts in the government departments for the next five years will take place at the same pace as currently," he said.

George Osborne鈥檚 announced the last budget of this Parliament on Wednesday 18. The Chancellor declared that it takes Britain "one more big step on the road from austerity to prosperity".

He said the squeeze on public spending would end a year earlier than planned -- in 2019, and that growth forecasts had been revised upwards.

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