Britain needs £350bn of spending cuts and tax hikes

Roger Bootle, an economic adviser to Deloitte predicts Britain's public borrowing will rise to 15% of its gross domestic product this year, which is more than twice the level when the country sought support from the International Monetary Fund in the 1970's. In contrast, the Treasury forecasts UK borrowings will reach only 12% of GDP this year. Mr. Bootle says that the Budget measures do not go far enough and Britain will need further "fiscal tightening" equivalent to 5% of GDP, or about £70bn per year over the course of the next five years. However despite the gloomy prognosis there ...