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BRITONS could be suddenly hit hard with higher taxes or suffer even deeper spending cuts in order for George Osborne to “balance the books” by 2020, an economic think tank warned yesterday.
The Chancellor has little margin for error with his ambitious £10 billion surplus forecast by 2020 — equating to just 0.5 per cent of national income — the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said.
He could be knocked off course by bad news on GDP growth, share prices and public-sector wage cuts, it added.
The 2025 Budget shores up the PM’s political position with headline-grabbing welfare U-turns, but with no improvements on offer to declining public services or living standards, writes MICHAEL BURKE
Under current policy, welfare cuts are just a small downpayment on future austerity, argues MICHAEL BURKE