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Building houses and saving the NHS: how Lib Dems would tackle this budget | Vince Cable

Urgent cash is needed for our ailing health service and those affected by corrosive benefit cuts. We have a plan which doesn’t rely on a magic money tree

• Vince Cable is the leader of the Liberal Democrats

There is a risk that this week’s budget will be drowned out by Brexit and ministerial mishaps. But it really matters because the economy is in a precarious position.

The chancellor’s task is not easy. He can’t depart too far from his deficit reduction targets without damaging his already tarnished brand beyond repair. He’s heartily loathed by many of his Tory colleagues as a remoaner and as George Osborne’s representative on Earth. He is faced with a slowing economy at the bottom of the G7 growth league, dragged down by poor productivity and weak revenue receipts.

The current orthodoxy is to curb all borrowing – but the government must free up investment spending

Related: The ‘no unemployment’ chancellor needs a budget of compassion | Matthew d’Ancona

Continue reading... November 21, 2017 at 03:37PM

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