Osborne: UK economy has 'turned a corner'

Chancellor claims his economic policy is the right one to follow, but repeats mantra about tougher times to come

George Osborne told a room full of academics, think tank members and business leaders that the economy is finally headed in the right direction.

Speaking at a construction site in Commercial Street, central London, ahead of the Conservative Party Conference later this month, Osborne (pictured) said there were “tentative signs of a balanced, broad based and sustainable recovery”.

But he also warned of the need to make “many billions” more in savings after the next election.

“The plan is working, but the recovery is still in its early stages, plenty of risks remain, and more years of hard decisions lie ahead. Our economy is turning a corner, but we must not take anything for granted,” he said.

“The economic collapse was even worse than we thought. Repairing it will take even longer than we hoped. But we held our nerve when many told us to abandon our plan.

“And as a result, thanks to the efforts and sacrifices of the British people, Britain is turning a corner,” he said.

Alex Jackman, head of policy at the Forum of Private Business, welcomed Osborne’s speech but called for more business red tape-cutting.

“The Chancellor delivered his message clearly enough, the UK economy has turned a corner and he would not deviate from Plan A. He and the Government have taken a lot of criticism politically for their policies but with Britain increasing exports and showing signs of a three per cent upwards growth in the remainder of 2014, things are finally are looking a little more rosy.

“We have supported the Chancellor’s long terms plans and our members have told us that they have felt his level of deficit reduction has been right. If the economy is now in full recovery mode, then the Chancellor could do worse than focus on further deregulation of businesses to speed it up even more.”