Debt Crisis: Osborne denies "sleight of hand" The FTSE 100 is up 0.02pc, the CAC has risen 0.79pc and the DAX is up 0.19pc. 08.49 The chancellor's been busy this morning. He is currently on Sky News where he defended the protected 0.7pc aid budget, saying British compassion is a hallmark of the country. He was also on BBC News earlier saying credit rating was important but not the only measure affecting borrowing rates, after Fitch Ratings said Britain's AAA rating could be at risk (06.31). It wouldn't be a good thing but the credit rating is one of a number of ways in which people look at countries. Because when people look around the world and they look at countries to invest in they think Britain is a good investment. 08.39 George Osborne has just been on the Today Programme where he refused to say whether borrowing would still be down if the 4G spectrum sale had not been included in the accounts. He called the story "a desperate attempt" by the Labour party to explain why they were wrong about the deficit going up. He also took a swipe at the shadow chancellor: The reason the Commons doesn't take Ed Balls very seriously is because he was the chief economic adviser when it all went wrong. He never admits he was at the scene of the crime. 07.55 Shadow chancellor Ed Balls has just been on the Today Programme after his embarrassing performance in the Commons yesterday (he said the deficit was not rising). He pointed out borrowing only went down because of Osborne's "sleight of hand" by slipping in the £3.5bn raised from the 4G spectrum sale this year into the government accounts and said it was "impossible to know what was going on" as he had been given no figures or documents. Everyody knows that I have a stammer and sometimes it gets the better of me when I speak, especially when I have the Prime Minister, the Chancellor and 200 Conservative MPs shouting at me. That's who I am and I don't mind that. I just want to win the arguments about what's right for Britain and our economy. Ed Balls giving his response to the Autumn Statement yesterday 07.26 The only group to emerge better off after the Autumn Statement are basic rate taxpayers not on welfare, says Institute for Fiscal Studies director Paul Johnson, speaking on the Today programme. The IFS will be presenting their analysis of yesterday's mini-budget later today. Those at the top have actually lost a fair chunk, and those of working age depending on benefits are also losing a chunk. But basic rate taxpayers who are not on welfare, they actually gained a bit.