Jeremy Hunt has been warned his planned spending cuts may prove “undeliverable” as he faced criticism from some senior Tories for raising taxes as he seeks to rebuild the UK’s battered public finances.
Former business secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg accused the Chancellor of taking the “easy option” in the autumn statement rather than bearing down harder on public spending. He said the country needed lower taxes to drive up growth after Mr Hunt acknowledged that the UK was already in recession.
At the same time, independent analysts said Hunt’s promised spending cuts would mean a prolonged squeeze on public sector pay despite a growing clamour in many services for real-terms increases after the years of austerity. The Institute for Fiscal Studies said delaying the difficult decisions on where the axe would fall until after the next general election would “stretch credulity” and questioned whether they would actually happen.
