George Osborne has told the House of Commons that his job is now to rebuild Britain, having repaired the economy in the last Parliament, as he began delivering his Autumn Statement.
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He said the spending review showed that the Government is putting security first and keeping citizens safe at home. Economic security is at the heart of everything, he stressed, saying that there will be a budget surplus of over £10bn by 2020.
Reminding MPs of the Coalition’s job to ‘rescue’ Britain back in 2010, he said the job was now to ‘rebuild’ Britain and he pledged to leave a stronger country than it inherited.
He said he was determined to take necessary steps to protect economic security.
His four year plans to deliver surplus are on track, he said, as he promised to bring debts down and said it has fallen and will continue to do so for the next four years.
The economy has grown almost three times faster than Japan and twice as much as France, without being fuelled by an “irresponsible banking boom”, he said.
He said: “We’re determined this will be an economic recovery for all felt in all parts of the country. The Midlands is creating jobs 3 times faster than London and the southeast. The highest employment is in the south-west. Our long-term economic plan is working."
He said, however, that debt was still too high and productivity needed to be higher.
Economic growth will be 2.4% this year, even despite the weaker global picture, he said and it has been revised up by 2.4% for 2016.
Growth is then predicted to be 2.5% for 2017, 2.4% in 2018 and 2.3% in 2019 and 2020.
Another million jobs will be created over the next five years, he said.
He revealed the Government is set to borrow £8bn less than forecast to “fix the roof while the sun is shining” and will spend £12bn more on capital investment.
He said the review sets out far reaching changes about the state and offers greater opportunity for all.
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