PoliticsUK

What are your thoughts on the first indications of the contents of this year's budget? Is this a meaningful shift in the government's priorities? Should there have been?

I didn't expect the budget to receive this level of anticipation, if I'm honest. It is slightly humbling and terrifying.

Naturally, I am not going to comment or speculate on the budget until I am in the House laying its proposals out before the country, and I have been transparent with the public from the start: I am committed to fair taxation, to investment in our fantastic public services and to sound financial management. That will, from top to bottom, be reflected in my budget.

The Chancellor "won't speculate on the budget," but he's certainly not opposed to allowing the Treasury to leak like a sinking ship in order to analyze public opinion on a number of his proposals. New Labour's contempt for our Parliament, and by extension the British people's democratic representatives, genuinely knows no bounds. The Chancellor has a job to do: writing a budget and putting it before the House of Commons for debate and scrutiny. He should spend less time pretending he doesn't know how details of the Government's proposals made their ways to the press, and more time delivering for the people he's meant to serve.

Mr. Croft says that the Chancellor should deliver for those he's meant to serve. That's what he's been working on with this budget- making sure that we can be sane and safe stewards of the public purse while living up to the promises that this Government and others have made to the people of Britain. I'll leave the debate over specifics to Parliament when the time is right, but I have every confidence that the decisions that are made, when they are revealed to Parliament, will show that this Government is seeking to be fair to ratepayers, to consumers, to workers, to businesses, to families.

I have every confidence that our budget will show this Government is capable, this Government is competent, and this Government is compassionate. We know that the NHS will be supported- that's a core Labour principle. We know there will be adequate funding to the priorities that we have been talking about in recent months. And we know that this will be responsible. These are pledges Labour has made to the people- the people we truly serve- and we will deliver.

To me the great shame here relates not to the content of a hypothetical budget, but the way that this has all been conducted behind closed doors and on Whitehall's sticky carpets. We are deciding the economic future of the nation, and in that setting in stone the prosperity, opportunity, and direction that the finances of people and businesses up and down the country shall take. I think this should be a far wider, more democratic process, and that it is a poor system to have the budget announced for the first time through a mix of skilfully-spun leaks and a whisky-soaked statement in the Commons.

My proposal would be to have a meaningful and democratic public consultation every year on budgetary proposals, before parliament puts it to a vote. This is a matter far too important to be left to politicians!

Whilst I find it hard to believe that a leak of this magnitude could happen without the direct knowledge and authorisation of the Chancellor or another member of the Treasury team I find it far more interesting to discuss what is not mentioned than what is. We all know that the Conservative Party left education, health, and our public services more generally in a dire mess so it is only natural that the Labour Party will join the Liberal Democrats in investing in those public services. But not one line in the leaks was dedicated to any kind of tax cut, not one word about joining the Liberal Democrats in giving the poorest in our society the right to keep anymore of their income. While Labour tax and spend, and the Tories just cut cut cut, the Liberal Democrats will pursue a growth-focused budget that will cut VAT to 15%, abolish the lowest rate of Income Tax, and invest in our public services.

The Government has had the right approach to this from the start; we can not confirm the details of the budget before it is announced to the House but we can reiterate our commitment to our basic principles; investing in public services, sound fiscal management, and fair taxation.

As Education Secretary, I will be on-hand on budget day to discuss in detail the investments we are making in our public services and the positive impact the budget will have for schools, colleges and early years providers.

Who does Sir Jack think he is fooling? The budget getting this much of attention as surprising. *laughs*

New Leader. Old Tricks. shall we say as their approach. Sir Jack has announced a commission with a long speech full of Blair speak, leaked his budget to the Sun and the Mirror in two completely different ways in which when you look you'd not recognise those were the same budget. Lying to people to the bitter end and with no shame, that is what this government is all about. The Mirror piece is for "the progressives", playing to the tune of the left and the Sun piece is for "the Blairites", playing to the tune of the right. Well all I can say is that nobody is buying this lie. Sir Jack can not have his cake and eat it. Britain can not have a budget that is fiscally responsible and funds socialist payouts. So which one is the true Jack? Is he the Socialist Hero or is he the Blairite sellout? That is the question I will be waiting to be answered with the budget.

If the information being leaked to the Sun is to be believed, the Chancellor seems to be committing to rational spending and fiscal prudence. It is my express hope that the Government will actually deliver on this commitment when the budget is released, and my intention as leader of the Conservative Party is to ensure New Labour doesn't spend our country into oblivion and undermine our economy's long term success. We owe it to the people who will inherit this country, to our children and our grandchildren, to not spend ourselves into debt that they will be responsible for paying back. Whatever spending rises the Government does commit to should be paired with plans to reign in waste and reform social services. The Conservative's Shadow Budget will achieve just that, protecting hard working families and ensuring their taxes aren't wasted on bureaucratic mismanagement.

Never forget what happened when the Conservative Party, supported by the Shadow Chancellor at the time, were last in government: they racked up £50 billion deficits in their pursuit to relentlessly cut taxes for just the wealthiest. We saw the consequence of that in houses being repossessed, in businesses going bankrupt and in public services crumbling under the weight of bad investment and a worse economy. I'm very clear to the British public that I will take the necessary difficult choices to ensure we never repeat the Tories' fiscal incompetence and boom and bust economics.

We are now in a position where we have the fiscal flexibility to invest in public services and to sustainably ease the tax burden on working Britons as a result of the difficult decisions made by this government. That will lead to more jobs, better wages and stronger public services without the need for crushing taxes. But we must not be complacent, and I'm happy to stress that unless it promises economic return, spending must be paid for by increased taxes or efficiency found elsewhere. I'm resolute in that, and will continue to be.