Osborne blasts Government 'inaction' over recession during visit to Birmingham

Mar 6 2009 by Kat Keogh

Shadow Chancellor George Osborne has attacked Gordon Brown’s “sticking plaster” approach to the financial crisis during a visit to Birmingham.

The MP was in the city to meet with management and workers at Jaguar Land Rover before delivering a hard-hitting speech to the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce.

Mr Osborne branded the government’s approach to the recession as a “scandal of inaction” and said national debt needed to be brought under control.

“Large or small, businesses in the West Midlands and across the country are facing a desperately difficult time,” he said.

“Orders are down, sales have slumped, import costs are rising. Credit has dried up. The prospect of mass unemployment now looms, with all the heartbreaking consequences for families and damage to our society we know that brings.”

Mr Osborne called for a change from an economy over-dependent on debt and warned that the “money for nothing” society had to end.

“Our economy is broken and Gordon Brown’s sticking plasters won’t mend it,” he said.

“We need a new model of growth. We need to change from an economy built on debt to an economy powered by savings and real returns on effort.”

Mr Osborne also said that a Conservative government would be prepared to overhaul the corporate tax system in order to penalise companies which were over-dependent on debt.

The ‘money for nothing’ society has to end. The age of irresponsibility is over,” he said.

“The truth is that Britain is going to have to work hard and save hard to get out of this hole. The Conservatives are ready to tell people these home truths, and the country is ready to hear them.”

Mr Osborne also warned that a Conservative government would have to carry out “major reforms” to the public sector to bring public finances under control.

But Treasury Minister Stephen Timms said Mr Osborne’s plans would “strike a blow” against businesses already hit by the credit crunch.

“This is on top of the £5 billion of cuts in apprenticeships, transport and housing in the middle of a recession,” he said.

“He has now let slip that his ambition is to cut even further into public services. Far from helping businesses and families when the economy needs it, George Osborne seems determined to hit them where it hurts.”

Before addressing Birmingham business leader, Mr Osborne paid a visit to JLR’s Castle Bromwich plant to meet with production line workers.

His visit came as workers agreed to accept a shorter working week and pay freeze in order to avoid compulsory job cuts.

West Midlands Tory MEP Malcolm Harbour, who joined Mr Osborne on his visit, said that government funding for JLR was needed to ensure skilled workers were retained.

He said: “I think the crucial thing is that we have a fantastic company here which has run into an unexpected fall-off in sales, and I think they are entitled to support from the government.”