austerity

• Britain is on course for the longest period of falling living standards since records began in the 1950s, with the current crunch forecast to last longer than the post-crisis income squeeze, the Resolution Foundation said today.

The poorest in society are being hit the hardest by changes to tax, social security and public spending reforms, and are set to lose 10 per cent of their income, a new report from the Equality and Human Rights Commission has revealed.

The UK government is paying virtually the lowest amount of interest on its debt in recorded history, as a proportion of GDP, says Jubilee Debt Campaign in a new pre-Budget briefing.

New analysis by researchers at the Institute for Fiscal Studies provides a comprehensive assessment of the UK's public finances and the options available to the Chancellor in his November Budget. It shows a defining choice: maintain commitment to a public finance surplus or respond to growing demands for increased public spending.