Osborne says S&P news is vote of confidence

LONDON (Reuters) - Chancellor George Osborne said that rating agency Standard & Poor's decision on Tuesday to raise its outlook for the country's sovereign debt was a vote of confidence in his economic policy.

"The country's credit rating, which had been put at risk by the previous government has been secured," he told Sky News.

"Both those things (strong Q3 GDP and S&P) will underpin confidence in the recovery and I think they are also a vote of confidence in the new government's economic policies," he added.

S&P affirmed its triple-A outlook for British government bonds and raised its outlook to 'stable' from 'negative', citing Osborne's comprehensive spending review last week.