Next UK Government Faces Hardest Fiscal Challenge in 70 Years
- IFS says banking on growth is wishful thinking, urges honesty
- Parties must choose tax rises, spending cuts or a debt spike
The Houses of Parliament on the bank of the River Thames in London.
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All UK political parties need to be honest about the painful fiscal choices facing the next government during the coming election campaign, the Institute for Fiscal Studies think tank said.
The challenge awaiting the winner is greater than any government has faced since at least the 1950s and wishful thinking that growth will come to the rescue would be to rely on getting “miraculously lucky,” said IFS Director Paul Johnson.