George Osborne 'guilty of abject failure' says Labour in response to the Budget

The Shadow Chancellor has just given a briefing after today's Budget.

John McDonnell says Chancellor George Osborne is guilty of "abject failure" and his "economic credibility is completely shot through."

Mr McDonnell contrasted the cuts in Capital Gains Tax "for the wealthy" with the cuts to disability benefits, something he called "morally reprehensible."

His aides pointed to the figures in the Treasury's Red Book, which show in the year 2020/21 the cuts to disability revenue are responsible for a third of the revenues raised.

The Personal Independence Payments cuts save £1.28 billion in that year while total revenue raised as a result of today's budget is £4.18 billion.

We should point out that Labour is not referring to every year between now and then - just the figures for the year 2020/21.

And Mr McDonnell made a bold claim that no cuts are required to eliminate the deficit: "To balance the books, we don't need to make any cuts," he said.

Labour is targeting budget balance by 2020: when revenues match total government spending.

George Osborne is planning on a £10 billion surplus at the same time.