In a keynote speech, the Chancellor today criticised the previous Labour Government for failing to have a plan to deliver the £44 billion cuts that it had pencilled in before the election.
George Osborne described Labour's repeated claims to have abolished the economic cycle as "the greatest failure of economic policy-making for more than 30 years, since the IMF crisis of 1976."
Highlighting the need for the Coalition to conduct a spending review that promotes a more balanced and sustainable level of growth, he said:
"The gamble would have been not to act, to put Britain's reputation at risk, and to leave the stability of the economy to the vagaries of the bond market, assuming investors around the world would continue to tolerate the largest budget deficit in the G20."
And he added, "We will follow a ruthless approach to waste, inefficiency and bureaucracy in Government. And we will re-focus public spending in those areas that will make a difference to our long-term economic success."
Read the Chancellor's speech in full.