Balls: UK faces Greek trap
GEORGE Osborne faced a barrage of attacks from Labour yesterday, with shadow chancellor Ed Balls accusing him of plunging Britain into a “Greek-style trap.”
With second quarter GDP figures expected to reflect badly on the UK economy tomorrow, Balls criticised the chancellor’s “reckless” deficit reduction for hampering the recovery.
“Unless you’ve got more people in work paying taxes [and] the economy growing, it is very hard to get these deficits down,” Balls said.
Labour announced that it would reverse the VAT rise as part of a four point plan to “save our high streets”. Other plans included a tax on City bonuses and more planning regulations against big name retailers.
Tory deputy chairman Michael Fallon hit back at Balls’ call for a VAT reduction: “Balls is so deep in denial he is ignoring the biggest economic challenge facing the developed world.”