16th Apr 2015 09:59
LONDON (Alliance News) - Labour is set to attack the Conservatives' spending plans on Thursday, as the International Monetary Fund issued a warning on the UK deficit reduction plans that the various political parties have put forward and the Liberal Democrats and UK Independence Party both opened the doors to potential coalition agreements.
Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls will say in a speech in Birmingham on Thursday that the Conservatives have amassed GBP25 billion of unfunded spending commitments and will make a further pitch for Labour as the party of fiscal responsibility following its manifesto pledge earlier in the week that it has accounted for all of its spending pledges.
Balls also will say the Tory attitude to unfunded pledges illustrates the need for an independent body such as the Office of Budget Responsibility to examine the promises made by political parties ahead of the General Election.
More broadly, the deficit reduction plans which have been tabled by all parties were placed under scrutiny after the International Monetary Fund said the country's next government will not be able to balance the books by the end of the decade. The IMF forecasts tax revenue will fall short of the Office for Budget Responsibility's expectations and that whoever wins the election will have to spend more than planned.
Elsewhere, Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg removed a potential barrier to a second coalition agreement between his party and the Tories, refusing to veto an in-out referendum on the European Union and instead saying he would focus on forcing the Tories to backtrack on its plans to cut GBP12 billion in welfare spending.
Clegg used his manifesto announced on Wednesday to declare the party is open to the notion of another coalition agreement with Labour or the Tories. "Someone will hold the balance of power on May 8," Clegg said. "It could be Nigel Farage or Alex Salmond or it could be me and the Liberal Democrats."
Farage made a similar statement while announcing the UK Independence Party's manifesto on Wednesday, saying his party would work with David Cameron if possible in order to block a Labour government supported by the Scottish National Party. Farage signalled he would be willing to back a Tory government in exchange for an immediate European Union referendum.
Meanwhile, at a panel event in London, business leaders claimed the policies and pledges outlined so far in the election campaign may harm the attractiveness of the UK for big business. Business leaders told an event held at Bloomberg in the City of London that they were facing an "adversarial" regulatory environment, adding that companies have become the "whipping boys" in the UK, while the political manifestos were filled with populist giveaways.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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