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Osborne: I'm Not A Gambler Heading To Casino

George Osborne has defended himself against claims he got "lucky" with his Spending Review and denied he was gambling on the future.

The Chancellor told Sky News his plans were not the sort of thing you would do if you were "heading to the casino" after being questioned over comments from the Institute for Fiscal Studies.

It claimed that there was a 50-50 chance the economy would get worse and he would be forced to reverse some measures.

Mr Osborne surprised MPs by ditching plans to cut tax credits and by announcing that he was protecting police budgets.

But the figures he used depend on the Government receiving a £27bn windfall from a combination of better-than-forecast tax receipts and lower-than-expected debt interest rates.

Mr Osborne’s plans are geared towards the Government having a surplus in 2019, the final full year of this Parliament.

:: Spending Review: The Key Points

Speaking on Sky News Mr Osborne said: "The fundamental thing I am trying to do is save money rather than ... spending the money or gambling the money.

"I am saying to the country let's put aside money for a rainy day. That's not what you normally do when you head off to the casino."

Paul Johnson from the Institute for Fiscal Studies said: "He's got a bit lucky with some of the changes to tax receipt forecasts.

"The OBR has improved its forecast just a smidgeon on tax receipts going forward.

"If they reverse that - and at some point over the next four or five years there has got to be pretty high probability that will happen - I'd say a 50-50 chance things will get worse rather than better - then, because he’s got this absolutely fixed target for 2019, the Chancellor will have to come back to the drawing board."

:: Osborne's 'Galactic Spin Manoeuvre'

The OBR’s chairman, Robert Chote, said: "History suggests - if you look at the errors in official forecasts - ours and the Treasury’s over many years - that would probably give him about a 55% chance of delivering a surplus.

"So it's by no means a done deal but there's a little bit of room for manoeuvre for things to go wrong, for things to turn out better as well."

Mr Osborne was also pushed by Sky's Eamonn Holmes on why he did not disclose his plans to scrap the tax credit cuts and not to slash the police budget earlier to end the outcry, saying he didn't just come up with it "lying in bed" the night before the Spending Review.

The Chancellor replied: "If you start revealing all the things you are doingn then it just leads to a whole set of other questions.

"I think it's much better to come to the House of Commons, set the whole thing out in context."

Mr Osborne also announced new business taxes and an increase in stamp duty for buy-to-let landlords.

Responding to the Spending Review, the Labour Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell accused Mr Osborne of betraying the country.

He said: "After five years the deficit has not been eliminated and this year it's predicted to be over £70bn. Instead of taking five years, it's going to take 10."