For the avoidance of doubt ...

Any references to the UK's budget deficit being halved which may appear or be quoted on this blog should be understood to mean that the deficit as a proportion of GDP has halved.

In absolute terms it has dropped by a little over a third.

The Office of Budget responsibility has stated that, quote,

"Relative to GDP, the budget deficit has been halved to date, thanks primarily to lower departmental spending (both current and capital) and lower welfare spending."

The deficit peaked in Labour's last financial year in office, (2009/10) at £153 billion and this financial year (14/15) it is expected to out-turn at £91 billion.

I think two things are undeniable about this

1) the present government has made significant progress in cutting the deficit, and vastly better than a Labour government would have done, but

2) the deficit is still much, much too high.

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