George Osborne was asked on Thursday morning if his failure to meet two out of three economic commitments meant he should be sacked as the UK Chancellor.
Appearing on the Today programme to defend his Budget for 2016, Mr Osborne was forced to admit that pledges to cut debt as a proportion of GDP and cap welfare spending – “enshrined in law” – had been missed.
When pressed repeatedly by presenter John Humphreys, Mr Osborne accepted that “by our own measurements, and the tests we’ve set ourselves, independently assessed, we have got more to do”, refusing to accept personal blame.
“I do not hide… from telling the British people the challenges we face and then I set out the action to deliver it,” he said. “And people can see increased security in our country as a result.”
Humphreys responded: “Or they could take another view. They could say ‘here’s a bloke who made three firm non-negotiable commitments to the nation, these three targets that had to be set.’
George Osborne 2016 budget at a glance
New tax on sugary drinks
The Chancellor announced a new tax on sugary soft drinks, which is projected to raise £520 million. At least some of the money will be spent on doubling funding for school sport, the Chancellor says. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn welcomed the levyDebt forecasts up, growth forecasts down
The OBR’s new forecasts have downgraded growth in all of the next five years to 2020. The watchdog says the economy will only grow by 2 per cent in 2016, as opposed to the anticipated 2.4 per cent. Borrowing and productivity growth are also down – with forecast borrowing in 2018-198 £16 billion higherLifetime ISA
The Chancellor announced a new savings account to encourage under-40s to save for retirement – for every £4 saved, the Government will top this up by £1 up to the value of £4,000 a year. Tax-free ISAs will also be increased from £15,000 to £20,000All schools to become academies
As reported yesterday the Chancellor unveiled legislation to turn all schools into academies. He said all schools would either be academies or on their way to being academies by 2020, and that funding had been set aside to fund the changeFuel duty frozen for sixth year running
The Chancellor had planned to end the fuel duty freeze he had put in place for the whole previous parliament. In the event, he has announced a freeze for another yearNew devolution for counties and powers for London and Manchester
The West of England, the East of England and Greater Lincolnshire will all get elected mayor-led combined authorities with new powers. The Chancellor says they are backed by £1 billion new funding. Greater Manchester will get new powers of criminal justice while London will keep its business rates – giving whoever is elected Mayor a lot more spending powerIncrease in tax-free income tax threshold
The tax-free allowance increase to £11,500 in April 2017 – up from £10,600 now. The Chancellor previously raised the allowance from £6,475 in coalition with the Liberal Democrats. The Conservative manifesto pledges to put the allowance up to £12,500 by the end of the ParliamentTax cut for higher earners paying the 40p rate
The Chancellor has raised the threshold for paying the higher rate of income tax to £45,000. The higher rate is paid by roughly the richest 15 per cent, currently people earning over £42,386“Nobody made you do this, you chose to do it for yourself. You said ‘these are the three things we’re going to do because the nation needs it’.
“You have failed to achieve two of them, it’s looking pretty unlikely according to most people that you will achieve the third.
“So I suppose, what I’m suggesting to you, what I’m asking you really, is what’s a bloke gotta do in your job to get the sack?”
Mr Osborne struggled to respond, before suggesting British people can “chuck out governments if they don’t like them”.
Earlier, Mr Osborne had a similarly difficult time on Sky News, when he was confronted on the impact of his disability cuts.