UK will need £27bn of spending cuts or tax rises, watchdog warns

Office for Budget Responsibility says tough decisions needed to fill spending gap by 2024

The government will need to find up to 27bn worth of spending cuts or tax rises by 2024 to put the public finances on a sustainable footing, the Treasury's spending watchdog has warned.

In a forecast for the public finances that predicted long-lasting damage to the economy following the Covid-19 crisis, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) said the spending gap based on its most likely estimate was unlikely to be filled by stronger economic growth, leaving ministers to make tough decisions in the years ahead.