Top 40 George Osborne Quotes (2025 Update)

1. “I believe in public services.”

— George Osborne

2. “If we don’t get a grip on government spending, there will be no growth.”

— George Osborne

3. “I want to see genuine talent rewarded.”

— George Osborne

4. “You cannot tackle Britain’s debts without tackling the unreformed welfare system.”

— George Osborne

5. “I reject absolutely the idea that people should know their place, and know their class.”

— George Osborne

6. “Well look, no one takes pleasure from people making money out of the misery of others, but that is a function of capitalist markets.”

— George Osborne

7. “When you look at the things people are really fed up with, like the collapse of the pension system, like the failure to get money to the frontline of the health service, Gordon Brown is more responsible for that than any other politician including Tony Blair.”

— George Osborne

8. “If you want to change the way your banking system is regulated, if you want to learn the mistakes of what’s gone wrong, then you have to change your government.”

— George Osborne

9. “Printing money is the last resort of desperate governments when all other policies have failed.”

— George Osborne

10. “Autism is a very serious condition.”

— George Osborne

11. “Everyone in our society has had to make a contribution towards dealing with the debts.”

— George Osborne

12. “It is not fair that people who are born in the UK to parents who are domiciled here, can later in life claim to be non-doms and live here, it is not fair that non-doms with residential property here in the UK can put it in an offshore company and avoid inheritance tax.”

— George Osborne

13. “No other chancellor in the long history of the office has felt the need to pass a law in order to convince people he has the political will to implement his own Budget.”

— George Osborne

14. “You know the illusion of the cheap money is over and now Britain has to go out there and graft and earn its way and create wealth and prosperity in a very competitive world.”

— George Osborne

15. “The Conservative party, the modern Conservative party, is on the side of people who want to work hard and get on.”

— George Osborne

16. “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

17. “Tax cuts should be for life, not just for Christmas.”

— George Osborne

18. “The positive news is that the British economy is continuing to grow and is creating jobs. And it is positive news too that at a time of real international instability we are a safe haven in the storm.”

— George Osborne

19. “I think you can look at the British economy with confidence.”

— George Osborne

20. “I did meet Mickey Mouse in California, and he seems to be writing the Labour party’s economic policy at the moment.”

— George Osborne

21. “The British people think that if someone is disabled, then they should get all the care and support that we can offer.”

— George Osborne

22. “I would say I have taken substantive action to make things easier for people.”

— George Osborne

23. “Of all the public services, education is the one I’m most interested in. You get a more dynamic economy, you deal with most social problems, and it’s morally right.”

— George Osborne

24. “I support gay marriage. I support gay marriage because I believe Conservatives support the institutions of commitment.”

— George Osborne

25. “Just as we should never balance the budget on the backs of the poor, so it is an economic delusion to think you can balance it only on the wallets of the rich.”

— George Osborne

26. “Believe me, I understand that most higher rate taxpayers are not the super-rich.”

— George Osborne

27. “I didn’t come from a traditional Tory background; it was urban and metropolitan.”

— George Osborne

28. “The foundations of a strong economy don’t rest alone on the decisions of Chancellors or the spending programmes of government.”

— George Osborne

29. “We need to think deeply about whether we can sustain banks that are not only too big to fail, but potentially too big to bail.”

— George Osborne

30. “Britain has no divine right to be one of the richest countries in the world.”

— George Osborne

31. “I understand the damage the expenses crisis has done to Parliament, and the paramount importance of restoring trust in our politics.”

— George Osborne

32. “Cutting budget deficits can never be just an exercise in economics.”

— George Osborne

33. “Britain needs a simpler tax system which is simple to understand, where there are no loop-holes, where the very rich do not avoid tax by employing expensive accountants.”

— George Osborne

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

— George Osborne

35. “I want Britain to be a global financial centre but I want it to be properly regulated.”

— George Osborne

36. “If you’re looking for ways to cut waste in government, you can start with John Prescott.”

— George Osborne

37. “Well you know I’ve attracted a lot of criticism by, for example, suggesting that child benefit should be taken away from higher rate taxpaying families.”

— George Osborne

38. “I believe that I’m entitled to regard my pre-political life as off-limits in terms of what can be looked at and judged.”

— George Osborne

39. “I was shocked to see that some of the very wealthiest people in the country have organised their tax affairs, and to be fair it’s within the tax laws, so that they were regularly paying virtually no income tax. And I don’t think that’s right.”

— George Osborne

40. “I get a lot of letters from people.”

— George Osborne

41. “Every day as Chancellor I see alerts telling me of risks around the world.”

— George Osborne

42. “I want Britain to be the home of successful competitive and stable financial services.”

— George Osborne

43. “The Conservative Party mustn’t sound like the old man on the park bench who says things were better in 1985, or 1955, or 1855.”

— George Osborne

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

— George Osborne

45. “The rise in world oil prices has been larger than anyone forecast.”

— George Osborne

46. “Well British pension funds have not been investing the savings of British people in British infrastructure.”

— George Osborne