Rishi Sunak warned against return to austerity with public spending cuts at next mini-Budget

Think tank finds PM has ‘fiscal space’ to deliver support totalling billions in cost of living crisis

Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt have “fiscal space” to avoid cuts to public spending in the next mini-Budget, an economic think tank has said.

The prime minister and chancellor also have the chance to provide help with the cost of living crisis without busting the government’s tax-and-spend rules, the Institute for Public Policy Research says.

In a report released today, the IPPR said that cuts to spending are not inevitable, but would represent a “political choice” to return to the austerity pursued by Conservative governments in the “lost decade” of the 2010s, risking lasting harm to livelihoods and growth.