Treasury short £10bn - papers 29th July

The Times says disappointing growth of just 2% this year, prolonged weakness in consumer spending and slower increases in incomes will all hit the Treasury’s revenues in the next few years, forcing the Chancellor to raise taxes. The National Institute of Economic and Social Research is reported as saying that despite Brown’s controversial reassessment of his “golden rule” for the nation’s finances last week, the improved picture this produced will not spare him from a requirement to raise tax. The institute’s forecasts show the deficit on the Treasury’s current budget, which excludes in...