To fill the fiscal hole, the next government will have to raise taxes, cut benefits or slash some budgets by as much as 25%.
The December 2009 Pre-Budget Report estimates that the recession and financial crisis have punched a permanent £73bn hole in the public finances. As part of the eight-year repair job currently planned by Labour, cuts to public spending will fill £32bn of this hole by 2014/15. In large part this will be achieved by freezing total public spending in real terms from April 2011 for four years.
Authors
![Person graphic](/sites/default/files/styles/square_desktop/public/2022-06/IFS-person-graphic.png?itok=hWCtTSrz)
Gemma Tetlow
![Person graphic](/sites/default/files/styles/square_desktop/public/2022-06/IFS-person-graphic.png?itok=hWCtTSrz)
Rowena Crawford
Comment details
- Publisher
- IFS
Suggested citation
Crawford, R and Tetlow, G. (2010). There is no gain without pain [Comment] IFS. Available at: https://ifs.org.uk/articles/there-no-gain-without-pain (accessed: 2 July 2024).
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