News from The Labour Party

Hammond admits Tories would make frontline services “suffer”

Liam Byrne MP, Labour’s Chief Secretary to the Treasury, seizing on Philip Hammond’s admission this afternoon that the Tories would make frontline services “suffer”, said:

“As the Shadow Chief Secretary has now admitted, under a Conservative government ‘the frontline will suffer’ to pay for tax cuts for the 3000 richest estates.

“George Osborne now needs to come clean and say what frontline services he would cut to pay for his tax cuts for the wealthiest few.”

Responding to the new Tory panel to advise them on efficiency savings, Liam Byrne added:

“The Tories have finally realised they need some serious help with their efficiency numbers.

“Figures we’re releasing today shows less than 1% of their headline efficiency numbers are actually real.

“Peter Gershon and Martin Read have helped us deliver tens of billions in efficiency savings.

“We’ve implemented their recommendations and I hope George Osborne listens to them carefully. He needs all the help he can get.

“The Tories’ numbers have been unravelling day by day.

“Let’s hope now they get serious – because the public deserves a serious debate.”

Other news from The Labour Party

• "We need what you might call 'one nation banking'" - 3 February 2012
• Burnham: "Mental health must move from the edges to the centre of the NHS" - 31 January 2012
• Ed Miliband: "As a country, we succeed or fail together" - 30 January 2012