AUTUMN STATEMENT SHOWS OSBORNE FAILING ON THE DEFICIT

George Osborne has been forced to announce that he will not meet his fiscal rule to get the debt down by 2015.

The Prime Minister’s pledge to balance the books by 2015 will also not be met until 2018.

Borrowing and debt figures have been revised up this year and for future years.

The government is set to borrow £212 billion more than they planned – once you take out the transfer of funding from the Bank of England – and more than the plans the government inherited and condemned at the time for not going far enough.

And the reason why borrowing and debt has been revised up is because slow growth and high unemployment means tax revenues are down and the benefits bill is up.

The only reason borrowing is forecast to fall this year is because the Government has added the 4G mobile spectrum auction to this year’s figures – even though government delays mean the auction hasn’t happened yet. Without the £3.5bn receipts penciled in from the 4G sale, borrowing would be forecast to be £2bn higher this year than last year.