Government added another £1.7 billion to the deficit in March alone – John McDonnell

John McDonnell MP, Shadow Chancellor, commenting on figures showing that the Government has borrowed £24.7 billion in the latest full financial year, said:

“So much for the deficit being eliminated – something the Tories told us they would achieve by 2015.

“Four years on and the Government has added another £1.7 billion to the deficit in March alone.

“Nine hard years of austerity have held down growth, and shifted deficits onto the shoulders of local councillors, NHS managers, and head teachers.”

Ends

Notes to Editors:

• ·         ONS release on public sector finances for March 2019 available here: https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/governmentpublicsectorandtaxes/publicsectorfinance/bulletins/publicsectorfinances/march2019 This showed that borrowing in the full financial year, April 2018 to March 2019, was £24.7 billion and that public sector net borrowing (excluding public sector banks) in March 2019 was £1.7 billion, £0.9 billion more than in March 2018.
• ·         Analysis by the New Economics Foundation has shown that austerity suppressed GDP by almost £100 billion since 2010:https://neweconomics.org/2019/02/austerity-is-subduing-uk-economy-by-more-than-3-600-per-household-this-year
• ·         George Osborne pledged to eliminate the deficit by 2015, as noted in Hansard: https://www.conservativehome.com/parliament/2010/10/george-osborne-confirms-intention-to-eliminate-deficit-by-2015-in-first-commons-clash-with-alan-john.html