[ianch99]

Comments by Robert Peston:

The second is that the OBR has shone a very bright light on the implications of the Tories' pledge to generate a budget surplus by 2019/20 from spending cuts rather than tax rises.

It shows that that if a new Tory government delivered on its pledge to protect spending on schools and hospitals, the cuts for other public services - such as the police, courts, social services, local government and so on - would be so big as perhaps to defy credibility.

The OBR calculates that spending per head in real terms in 2019/20 on the public sector minus health and schools would be £1,290, or 57% less than in 2009/10.