Britain's deficit-slashing austerity measures have been "vindicated" by Standard & Poor's move to slash Washington's top AAA credit rating, a government spokesman said on Saturday. "Abandoning our deficit reduction plans would put Britain back in the international firing line - and we are not in that firing line because our credit rating is secure," said the spokesman for Prime Minister David Cameron's Downing Street office.
The comments came after Standard & Poor's cut the United States' top rating down a notch, to AA+, for the first ever time, technically signalling that the country's reliability for paying its debts had decreased.
Britain's Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government, which rose to power last year, has sought to axe public spending and hike taxes in order to slash a record deficit and preserve the nation's top-level AAA credit rating. "Because of the decisions the government has taken to deal with our debts and support a sustainable recovery, Britain's credit rating has been reaffirmed, helping to keep the cost of borrowing down for taxpayers, homeowners and businesses," a Treasury spokesman added on Saturday.
But the opposition Labour party, which was ousted from power by the coalition in May 2010, argued that British finance minister George Osborne has cut spending too quickly and too deeply. "The problem in Britain is that George Osborne's plan is not working," said Labour finance spokesman Ed Balls in a statement issued in response to ongoing market turmoil and the US credit downgrade.
"By trying to go too far and too fast, confidence has been knocked and last year's recovery has been choked off." But Business Secretary Vince Cable said Washington's downgrade was "entirely predictable" after lengthy US political wrangling to lift the debt ceiling, adding that Britain's rating was safe due to his government's swift action.