Image: PA THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT has reintroduced austerity in the UK with £55 billion of tax hikes and spending cuts, declaring its economy was in recession.
A day after official data showed UK inflation rocketing to a 41-year high above 11%, Hunt triggered a fresh era of austerity following the calamitous and short-lived tenure of former prime minister Liz Truss.Britain’s Office for Budget Responsibility judged “that the UK, like other countries, is now in recession”, Chancellor of the Exchequer Hunt told parliament.
Pantheon Macroeconomics analyst Samuel Tombs warned the budget risked “amplifying the recession already underway”.The BoE, which is raising interest rates to combat sky-high inflation, has warned the UK economy may experience a record-long recession until mid-2024.He pledged, however, to increase spending on the cherished National Health Service amid a severe backlog in patient operations.
Britain’s economy is additionally being impacted by Brexit, BoE governor Andrew Bailey repeated yesterday.Hunt at the weekend likened himself to the penny-pinching miser Ebenezer Scrooge in Charles Dickens’ festive favourite “A Christmas Carol”, but argued his plan will “make sure Christmas is never cancelled”.