Fight against terror to escape Osborne's £11bn spending axe: Security services win 3% boost in funding

• MI5, MI6 and the GCHQ listening station will get a 3 per cent rise
• It is the biggest increase of any area of Government spending
• Chancellor will pledge £15billion in extra infrastructure spending

Britain’s security budget will escape George Osborne’s £11.5billion cut in spending – instead winning a significant cash boost to help the fight against terrorism.
MI5, MI6 and the GCHQ listening station will get a 3 per cent rise – the biggest increase of any area of Government spending, Whitehall sources have revealed.
In announcing his spending plans today, the Chancellor will pledge £15billion over five years in extra infrastructure spending to boost the economic recovery.

Safe: Britain's security budget will escape George Osborne's £11.5billion cut in spending - instead winning a significant cash boost to help the fight against terrorism. GCHQ in Cheltenham is pictured

But among those areas to lose out from 2015 are local government, defence and university funding.
The security spending rise was settled with MI5, MI6 and GCHQ on Friday, and Mr Osborne is understood to have spoken to the heads of each agency.

 

There will be a significant investment in the battle against cyber-terrorism amid growing concerns that the Government has not done enough to protect the UK.
The police counter-terrorism budget will also be protected in real terms.

Expensive: The Chancellor will today pledge £15billion over five years in extra infrastructure spending to boost the economic recovery

‘This has been one of George’s personal priorities. It is vitally important we look after these budgets and they were settled last week with agreement at the very highest level,’ a source said.
The Chancellor also confirmed in the Commons yesterday that the schools and NHS budgets will again be protected.
‘These are vital public services, they are an investment in our economic future and they are all about doing what we need to do to win that economic race,’ he said.
Despite criticism from some Conservatives, the foreign aid budget will also increase as the Government meets a pledge to spend 0.7 per cent of national income on support for poorer countries.
Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls said that asking the House for more spending cuts showed Mr Osborne was ‘unfair, out-of-touch and now revealed as totally incompetent’.
The Chancellor replied: ‘Getting a lesson from you in how to balance the books is like getting a lesson from Dracula in how to look after a blood bank.’
He added: ‘I know that times are still not easy for families. But we have a clear economic plan. We’ve stuck to it. It is working. And I’m determined to go on delivering it.'
Matthew Sinclair, of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: ‘It’s not good enough simply to salami-slice departmental budgets. George Osborne must be tough on cutting public spending.
‘There’s £120billion of waste just waiting to be axed if the Chancellor really wants to ease the burden on families.’