A leading UK thinktank has cautioned that the upcoming budget faces a significant funding gap, warning the chancellor must address £35 billion in rising spending pressures or risk deep cuts later in the decade. The Institute for Fiscal Studies highlights how inflation and geopolitical tensions—including the ongoing conflict in the Middle East—are straining public finances, forcing difficult choices on whether to maintain current spending levels or accept real-term reductions. Experts suggest delaying key decisions could turn the budget into an unrealistic plan, leaving critical fiscal challenges unresolved. The report underscores the urgency of making tough financial decisions now rather than deferring them.
Thinktank’s influential pre-budget report urges key decisions to be made now and not put off until next yearJohn Healey has been warned by Britain’s leading tax and spending experts that his budget risks being a “work of fiction” unless he sets out plans to cover £35bn in spending pressures.As the war in the Middle East rattles the public finances, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said the damage from higher inflation meant the chancellor would need to either top up funds for his current government spending plans or impose deep real-terms cuts by the end of the decade. Continue reading...
