Alistair Darling MP, Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer responding to reports today that the Office of Budget Responsibility revised its forecast on public sector job losses said:

“There were already serious questions about the independence of the Office of Budget Responsibility. Now its very credibility is at stake. It’s clear from the revised figures that the public sector job losses will be 175,000 greater than the Prime Minister claimed last week.

“Right from the start the Tories used the OBR not just as part of the Government but as part of the Conservative Party. They have succeeded in strangling what could have been a good idea at its birth.”