John
01-09-2010, 09:59 AM
The Chancellor indicated that Labour was ready to rein in spending severely once the economy had recovered from the recession.
His comments come amid signs that the markets are more confident about Tory plans to cut the £178 billion deficit more quickly than Labour's pledge to halve it in four years.
They will be seen as a shift away from some of Prime Minister Gordon Brown's rhetoric about the choice between Labour and the Tories representing "investment" versus "cuts".
In an interview with The Times, Mr Darling said: "My priority is to get borrowing down. Once recovery is established we have to act.
"The next spending review will be the toughest we have had for 20 years...to me, cutting the borrowing was never negotiable. Gordon accepts that, he knows that."
His comments come amid signs that the markets are more confident about Tory plans to cut the £178 billion deficit more quickly than Labour's pledge to halve it in four years.
They will be seen as a shift away from some of Prime Minister Gordon Brown's rhetoric about the choice between Labour and the Tories representing "investment" versus "cuts".
In an interview with The Times, Mr Darling said: "My priority is to get borrowing down. Once recovery is established we have to act.
"The next spending review will be the toughest we have had for 20 years...to me, cutting the borrowing was never negotiable. Gordon accepts that, he knows that."