Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. "People want to see a government that is taking decisions on a five-year horizon" A Conservative government would not make "swingeing cuts" to public spending during its first year, party leader David Cameron has told the BBC.But he said it was right to make a start on cutting the deficit, to avoid the same "scale of problems" as Greece, where public finances are in ruins. The government accused the Tories of "talking Britain down", while the Lib Dems said the party was in a muddle. The budget deficit for this year is forecast to grow to £178bn. Figures released last week show that the UK economy came out of recession in the final quarter of 2009, but with a weaker than expected growth of 0.1%. 'We are serious'The scale of government debt is becoming one of the key issues in the lead-up to the general election. Labour says cutting spending now will damage the recovery, while the Tories argue that too much debt could imperil it.[Read more...]