Chris Leslie MP, Labour’s Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, responding to today’s public sector finance figures, said:

“George Osborne will be disappointed that he borrowed more last month than the same month last year. His promise to balance the books by next year now lies in tatters.

“The Budget revealed borrowing is now forecast to be £190 billion more than planned under this government. This is the cost of the three damaging years of flatlining and falling living standards we have seen since the election.

“The tax deal with Switzerland, which we warned had more holes than Swiss cheese, also continues to disappoint. Just £4 million was raised from it last month and it has now raised just a quarter of the revenues George Osborne promised.

“Labour will balance the books, get the current budget into surplus and the national debt falling as soon as possible in the next Parliament. We will get the deficit down in a fairer way, including by reversing David Cameron’s tax cut for the top one per cent of earners, and we will act to secure a strong and balanced recovery that delivers rising living standards for the many, not just a few at the top.”