George Osborne Quotes

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George Osborne

Profession : Politician

Birth : May 23, 1971

I think the British people are very, very attached to the idea that the health service is free at the point of use. But there is no reason why every doctor, nurse and teacher in this country has to be employed by the state.

George Osborne

I had the closest thing I have ever had to an out-of-body experience lying in bed one morning. I turned on the 'Today' programme and item four on the news was: 'The shadow chancellor has ruled himself out of the leadership.' I lay there thinking that's interesting, then I realised it was me.

George Osborne

The biggest single thing that has lifted people out of poverty is free trade.

George Osborne

Frankly, people buying a home to let should not be squeezing out families who can't afford a home to buy.

George Osborne

I think the British people have a strong sense of what is fair.

George Osborne

The Conservative party is at its strongest when it's not the party that says there is no role for government and the state should just get out of the way. That is not a strand of Conservative thinking that, by itself, is enough.

George Osborne

Tony Blair was a good politician but not a good Prime Minister, and that's what we don't want to be. We don't want to be just people who are good at winning elections: we want to be good at governing. I think we benefit from having seen the mistakes that we think Tony Blair made in 1997.

George Osborne

I have done everything I can to move Britain out of the financial danger zone.

George Osborne

If we don't get a grip on government spending, there will be no growth.

George Osborne

The foundations of a strong economy don't rest alone on the decisions of Chancellors or the spending programmes of government.

George Osborne

No ifs, no buts - we will not share the pound if Scotland separates from the U.K.

George Osborne

In opposition, you move to the centre. In government, you move the centre.

George Osborne

Providing great schooling is the single most important thing we can do to help any child from a disadvantaged background succeed. It's also the single most important thing we can do to boost the long-term productivity of our economy.

George Osborne

It's not enough to tackle just the symptoms of poverty. You have to tackle the causes of poverty.

George Osborne

Tax cuts should be for life, not just for Christmas.

George Osborne

A generous basic state pension is the least a civilized society should offer those who have worked hard and saved through their whole lives.

George Osborne

Autism is a very serious condition.

George Osborne

Brexit is for the richest in our country: they can afford recessions.

George Osborne

There was a real fear that a euro-zone bank might fail, that we'd have a sovereign debt problem in one of the larger European economies. That's dissipated, thanks largely to the action of the European Central Bank.

George Osborne

One thing I learned about Gordon Brown is you've got to have the strength to just get in there and take him on. When you first hear him spouting his statistics and boasting about his record, it can be quite intimidating. But over time, shadowing him, I just realised that a lot of it was rubbish; a lot of it was baloney.

George Osborne