Osborne’s cuts will strengthen Britain’s economy by allowing the private sector to generate more jobs - Telegraph

SIR – It has been suggested that the deficit reduction programme set out by George Osborne in his emergency Budget should be watered down and spread over more than one parliament. We believe that this would be a mistake.

Addressing the debt problem in a decisive way will improve business and consumer confidence. Reducing the deficit more slowly would mean additional borrowing every year, higher national debt, and therefore higher spending on interest payments.

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The cost of delay would result in almost £100 billion of additional national debt by the end of this parliament alone. In the end, the result would be deeper cuts, or further tax rises, in order to pay for the extra debt interest.

The cost of delay could be even greater than this. As recent events in some European countries have demonstrated, if the markets lose faith in Britain, interest rates will rise for all of us.

There is no reason to think that the pace of consolidation envisaged in the Budget will undermine the recovery.

The private sector should be more than capable of generating additional jobs to replace those lost in the public sector, and the redeployment of people to more productive activities will improve economic performance, so generating more employment opportunities.

So, each writing in our personal capacity, we would encourage George Osborne and the Government to press ahead with his plans to reduce the deficit.

In the long run it will deliver a healthier and more stable economy.

Will Adderley
CEO, Dunelm Group
Robert Bensoussan
Chairman, L.K. Bennett
Andy Bond
Chairman, ASDA
Ian Cheshire
Chief Executive, Kingfisher
Gerald Corbett
Chairman, SSL International, moneysupermarket.com, Britvic
Peter Cullum
Executive Chairman, Towergate
Tej Dhillon
Chairman and CEO, Dhillon Group
Philip Dilley
Chairman, Arup
Charles Dunstone
Chairman, Carphone Warehouse Group
Chairman, TalkTalk Telecom Group
Warren East
CEO, ARM Holdings
Gordon Frazer
Managing Director, Microsoft UK
Sir Christopher Gent
Non-Executive Chairman, GlaxoSmithKline
Ben Gordon
Chief Executive, Mothercare
Anthony Habgood
Chairman, Whitbread
Chairman, Reed Elsevier
Aidan Heavey
Chief Executive, Tullow Oil
Neil Johnson
Chairman, UMECO
Nick Leslau
Chairman, Prestbury Group
Ian Livingston
CEO, BT Group
Ruby McGregor-Smith
CEO, MITIE Group
Rick Medlock
CFO, Inmarsat; Non-Executive Director lovefilms.com, The Betting Group
John Nelson
Chairman, Hammerson
Stefano Pessina
Executive Chairman, Alliance Boots
Nick Prest
Chairman, AVEVA
Nick Robertson
CEO, ASOS
Sir Stuart Rose
Chairman, Marks & Spencer
Tim Steiner
CEO, Ocado
Andrew Sukawaty
Chairman and CEO, Inmarsat
Michael Turner
Executive Chairman, Fuller, Smith and Turner
Moni Varma
Chairman, Veetee
Paul Walker
Chief Executive, Sage
Paul Walsh
Chief Executive, Diageo
Robert Walters
CEO, Robert Walters
Joseph Wan
Chief Executive, Harvey Nichols
Bob Wigley
Chairman, Expansys, Stonehaven Associates, Yell Group
Simon Wolfson
Chief Executive, Next

via telegraph.co.uk