Chancellor George Osborne admits: “The British government has run out of money because all the money was spent in the good years, the money and the investment and the jobs need to come from the private sector.”

“Any tax cut would have to be paid for. In other words there would have to be a tax rise somewhere else or a spending reduction.  In other words what we are not going to do in this budget is borrow more money to either increase spending or cut taxes.”

Foreign Minister Jeremy Browne said: “Britain’s market share in the world used to be dominant but is now in freefall compared with the soaring economies of Asia and South America. This situation has been becoming more acute for years. It is now staring us in the face. So we need to take action”