Not a Good Day for Andy Burnham

Not a Good Day for Andy Burnham

Iain Dale 2:39 PM

Nick Robinson tied Andy Burnham up in knots last night about spending cuts according to the transcript of the Ten O'Clock News.

Nick Robinson: When the Government says that spending will increase between 2010 and 2014 they’re using cash figures, but if you take in to account expected inflation spending is due to be cut in real terms.
What’s more if you take off the interest we’re all paying on the country’s debt, the rise in cost of benefits and other costs they can’t control, that leads to an estimated seven per cent cut.
Ring fence health spending and the figure leaps to the ten per cent cut for all other departments that the Tories blurted out today.
Gordon Brown thinks the phrase Tory cuts is a proven election winner, a phrase which leads though to an inevitable question, what about Labour cuts?
Andy Burnham: Mr Cameron has the ten per cent, the ten per cent hung round his neck now and he has to, will have to explain to, to public servants what precisely that ten per cent cut will mean.
NR: What precisely will the Government cut?
AB: Well we’ve made our, we’ve made our plans.
NR: What precisely will you cut?
AB: We’ve, we’ve made our plans clear. We’ve spending …
NR: What are they, what will you cut?
AB: … we’ve spending plans that add up for this spending review period … and next.
NR: On your list what will you cut? Police, Army, will you cut those?
AB: I, it’s Alistair Darling’s judgement about the next spending review.