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

“George Osborne is not only set to break his promise to balance the books by next year, he is also borrowing more so far this year than the same period last year.

“Borrowing is now expected to be almost £190 billion more than planned under this Government. This is the cost of three damaging years of flat lining and falling living standards we have seen since the election.

“As Labour’s National Policy Forum agreed this weekend, Labour will balance the books and get the national debt falling as soon as possible in the next Parliament. But we will get the deficit down more fairly by reforming our economy for the long-term and reversing David Cameron’s top rate tax cut for the top one per cent of earners.“