Osborne says tax cut will save 4,800 jobs

SHADOW Chancellor George Osborne claimed 4,800 jobs in the region could be saved by his plans to limit Labour's National Insurance rise as he denied he is planning a VAT increase if the Tories win the election.

Mr Osborne claimed Labour's attempt to undermine Tory economic policy had "blown up in their faces" following the response of business leaders as he hit back at suggestions by Business Secretary Lord Mandelson yesterday that "the age-old Tory tax hike is VAT".

He told the Yorkshire Post: "I'm very clear that we have no

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

plans to increase VAT. There's no secret plan to increase VAT."

Mr Osborne refused to rule out an increase in the tax during the next parliament altogether – but so did Labour, leaving open the possibility that both parties could resort to increasing VAT to limit public spending cuts.

In the wake of the Prime Minister's reprimand this week over the use of immigration statistics, Mr Osborne questioned "why would you believe any Labour figures about the Conservative Party" as he rejected as "completely flawed" Chancellor Alistair Darling's dossier claiming there was a "credibility gap" in Tory pledges.

The Shadow Chancellor also revealed he has held talks with Leeds City Council leaders to discuss how the city can recover from the economic crisis as he played down Labour claims the Tories do not care about the regions.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

He said the Conservatives would have a specific aim at improving private sector growth in regions such as Yorkshire in a bid to move away from the

UK economy's reliance on financial services and the City of London.

And he added they wanted greater growth in Yorkshire and others than under Labour – dismissing Lord Mandelson's claims that David Cameron was "looking down his nose at the regions".