SQUEEZE

Officially in Recession, UK Hikes Taxes for Millions

U.K. Treasury announces multi-billion pound tax cuts to help balance the books.

The U.K. government unveiled both spending cuts and tax rises Thursday as it confirmed that Britain is now officially in recession. Jeremy Hunt, chancellor of the exchequer, announced tax hikes and budget cuts worth a combined £55 billion ($65 billion) as he delivered his autumn statement to Parliament. A Tory centrist, Hunt was appointed chancellor a month ago to wind back a disastrous emergency budget under PM Liz Truss that spooked the markets and saw the pound plummet. He was kept on by Truss’ successor, Rishi Sunak, as a safe pair of hands. In pressing on with large infrastructure projects and a state pension increase of more than 10 percent, Hunt’s spending cuts were not as deep as some feared. But he was jeered by opposition lawmakers as he sought to pin the blame for Britain’s poor economy on global events rather than the disastrous decision to walk away from the European Union. “There may be a recession made in Russia but there will be a recovery made in Britain,” he declared.