Harman points to 'broken promises' after 'reckless' Government Budget

Harriet Harman, deputy leader of the Labour Party, has blasted the coalition Government's emergency Budget as "reckless" and says it will "pull the rug from the UK economy."

In response to George Osborne’s speech, Harman dubbed it the “Budget of broken promises” and “driven by ideology not economics”. Pointing to the rise in VAT from 17.5% to 20%, she says both the Tories and the Liberal Democrats pledged not to increase it during their election campaigns but have gone back on this promise in their first Budget. They justify this, she adds, by saying things are worse than they realised and comparing the UK’s situation to Greece, which she says is “no alibi for this Tory Budget”. The cuts in public spending and tax rises are bad for unemployment and, th...