Jeremy Hunt should not cut taxes without explaining cost to public services, IFS warns

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. The International Monetary Fund has warned Mr Hunt it would be “very challenging” to achieve tax cuts considering Britain’s ageing population and mounting debt pile, and cautioned that the transition to net zero and protecting the UK’s public services like hospitals and schools would need higher spending in the medium term than current government plans. The report, written by the IFS and funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, said during the Autumn statement the chancellor “ignored the impacts of higher inflation on public service budgets and instead used additional tax revenues to fund eye-catching tax cuts.” It warns against doing the same this time, stating that “until the Government is willing to provide more detail on its spending plans in a spending review, it should refrain from providing detail on tax cuts.” In analysis published ahead of next week’s budget, the IFS has also suggested the budget deficit may be around £11 billion smaller than it was forecast to be in November, but still much higher than it was forecast to be in March 2022. Pranesh Narayanan, research fellow at the Institute for Public Policy Research has said the figures underscore the need for public investment, rather than “irresponsible tax cuts”. Let’s fix our problems now rather than storing them up for later.” Martin Miklos, research economist at the IFS, said: “In November’s autumn statement, the Chancellor ignored the impacts of higher inflation on public service budgets and instead used additional tax revenues to fund eye-catching tax cuts.