Theresa May faces dilemma over NHS cash boost, says IFS

PM will have to either raise taxes, slash public spending or break her own spending rules

Theresa May's plans to mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of the NHS with a big cash boost will force the government to raise taxes, break its own budget rules or slash public spending elsewhere, according to the UK's leading thinktank on the public finances.

Amid growing Westminster speculation that an NHS announcement would be made within the next month, the Institute for Fiscal Studies said the size of the health service meant that any meaningful increase in funding would create problems for Philip Hammond.

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