Osborne warns of UK tax hikes, spending cuts if voters shun EU

First of all, even if the "leave" vote wins next week the UK will remain in the EU for at least two more years. There will be no need to instantly raise taxes and cut spending in an emergency budget as lying Osborne suggests.

Second, Osborne has already been trying, and failing, to eliminate the budget deficit for many years. He will raise taxes and cut spending whatever the result of the referendum.

Talk of cutting pensions and healthcare budgets is nothing more than scaremongering. It's idiots like Osborne and Cameron spouting this nonsense that have caused the "leave" vote to increase. It would be better if they both kept their mouths shut.

@Scrote

There will be no need to instantly raise taxes and cut spending in an emergency budget as lying Osborne suggests.

Yes there will be. I don't think people realise how damaging Brexit would be, or how damaging just holding the referendum has already been.

For example, earlier this year a small company I work with decided that they will move their European office from the UK to Ireland. The move will now happen regardless of the referendum result. It will mean less revenue coming into the exchequer by the end of this year, not two or three years down the road. I recommend you call an estate agent in Ireland to get an idea of just how many small companies are planning to make the move. Most of them need to be inside the EU for legal reasons.

Osborne has a £14bn gap resulted from constant U-turns on his much valuted welfare cuts. All of this of Osbornes own making. Osborne most recent plans to cut disability benefits resulted in another farcical over the issue all undermining the pledges to cut the deficit requiring whole sections of the budget to be rewriten blaming this

So many ignorant people unable to see past the blatant scaremongering. So what if some companies move out? You'd think England was some amazing prosperous utopia the way the remainers whine on and on. The country is a complete mess as it is and is no better for being united with a bunch of other equally corrupt countries. Leave them to rot.

The EU has become an anti-democratic, out of control monster. I hope Brits have the common sense to leave and ignore the scaremongering Eurocrats.

My apologies only able to achieve a minimal comment, the truth is Osborne's primary budget surplus target is another means to use the pending referendum a week away, to distract from growing global risks..... the intensification has little or nothing to do with Brexit!, more to the difficulties political or otherwise with working tax credits.

Osborne's latest budget frantically tried loosened fiscal policy, an example would be loosening the tax burden for higher earners. But at the expense of the most financially venerable in society reflected the slowdown in growth.

So more deeper cuts in the future to meet his budget surplus target. More austerity and considerably poorer public services. The realities of the economy suggest that the total, i.e.nominal GDP is far lower than predicted, public sector borrowing in 2016/17 will come in about £6-8 billion over and above the amount forecast at the start of the year. Osborne is using Brexit to hide this fact.

Osborne would do better to target the objective of full employment , however this is a red herring because the mass of unskilled EU migrant workers has halted real and nominal growth of tax receipts.The OBR estimates of nominal GDP through to 2017/18 is some £50 billion less than previous estimates.

M3M3M3 I am sorry I would dearly like the EU to work for the UK but the cumulative borrowing will rise to above £120bn than even the OBR has projected over the next 5 years. Unless the EU reforms and restructures. Germany would have to except joint euro-zone bonds debt sharing for want of a better definition, so the risks of sovereign debt defaults will be shared between the ECB and all the euro zone nations. Under these circumstances the UK would be best placed outside the EU.

SME moving to Ireland would be economically suicidal for the reasons outline in the article below....

Central Bank warns of Brexit risks to Irish financial firms ......

http://www.irishtimes.com/business/economy/central-bank-warns-of-brexit-risks-to-irish-financial-firms-1.2684150

@itsonlyrocknroll

Thanks for the article. But I would have to take issue with saying that a move to Ireland would be suicidal, or that it would be any more suicidal than actually voting for Brexit.

The article says that the domestic economy in Ireland is doing well but the only reason Irish financial firms would suffer post-Brexit is because they have significant exposure to the UK. In otherwords, if your closest neighbour decides to burn their own economy down to the ground, yours might go up in flames as well. The Irish Central Bank seems to be accepting that Irish firms will be affected by the coming financial meltdown and instability (which most economists are predicting) that will hit the UK after Brexit.

Looks like we have a week to go and the polls are really tightening. I hope we have good weather and a record turnout on the 23rd.

Hi M3M3M3, Suicidal is ott, I was hoping for a compromise from EU commission and it's institutions over a debt consolidation from north to south.

Germany has current account surplus has been rising strongly again in 2016, this has been a huge advantage, and all boils down to the Euro. A currency union with far weaker economies, if ERM had not taken place. If monetary union had not taken place, Greece, Germany etc etc had retained their own currencies, then others would have devalued perhaps thirty or forty percent against the D-Mark.

I can say this I have reviewed a couple of private polling forecasts that suggests the UK will undoubtedly remain part of the EU. I won't pretend I have not taken full advantage and strengthened my postion in UK securities and equities, there some stocks that are eye wateringly undervalued.

@itsonlyrocknroll

I agree that there are serious problems with the Euro and there's no easy short term fix. But let's hope 'remain' wins so that you can make a nice return on your UK investments rather than lose it all. ;) It will be interesting to see how accurate the polls turn out to be.

Hi M3M3M3, It is truly astonishing to watch a political catastrophe in the making, Cameron and Osborne seem oblivious to the serious economic and political consequences of the EU-Turkey deal. The EU will within months offer 76 million Turkish citizens the ability to travel to all 28 member states without the need for a visa, and thus fragrantly ignore all the human rights abuses of Recep Erdogan’s regime. Not been a issue in the media, but the EU Parliament have been kicking this around for the past few days

I don't think remain campaign strategists comprehend the structure and dynamics Great Britain diverse society by browbeating and intimidating the electorate into accepting the status quo.