Britain warned of economy downgrade

Chancellor George Osborne was issued a pre-Budget warning by an influential credit rating agency last night as it issued a \"negative\" outlook on the prospects of the UK economy retaining its AAA rating. Fitch moved the country\'s rating from stable after deciding its exposure to a fresh eurozone crisis made it more likely than not that it would be stripped of its cherished top rating by 2014. Treasury Chief Secretary Danny Alexander said the move – which follows a similar downgrade by another of the top agencies last month – was a \"salutary reminder\" of the need to maintain austerity measures. \"There will be no unfunded giveaways in next week\'s Budget,\" Mr Alexander said, insisting the news should act as a \"wake-up call\" for those urging the Government to ease up on deficit-reduction plans. \"This is a salutary reminder as to why Britain needs to deal with the enormous debts and deficits we inherited, why we have got to stick to those plans. It should be a wake-up call to anyone who thinks we can afford, as a country, to loosen the purse strings. We can\'t afford to do that.\" Fitch said it considered the Government\'s deficit-reduction plans to be \"credible\" and on track and that it expected them to be sustained.