Autumn Statement: Jeremy Hunt warns of challenges as living standards plunge

Families look "real challenges", Jeremy Hunt has warned, arsenic authorities forecasters foretell the biggest driblet successful surviving standards since records began.

The Office for Budget Responsibility says household income volition autumn by 7% implicit the adjacent 18 months.

The chancellor said taxation rises and a spending compression successful his Autumn Statement would assistance tame ostentation which helium said had caused the drop.

But Labour said helium had picked the nation's pockets with "stealth taxes".

Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves described the exigency fund measures arsenic "an invoice for the economical carnage" created by the policies of erstwhile Prime Minister Liz Truss.

In a sombre connection lasting conscionable nether an hour, Mr Hunt undid overmuch of the tax-cutting mini-budget unveiled by his predecessor arsenic chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, lone 55 days ago.

It was deliberately stripped of surprises and governmental theatre, with galore of the announcements having been trailed successful the media beforehand.

BBC economics exertion Faisal Islam said the connection was comprised of 2 halves - the archetypal covering the years until the adjacent wide predetermination successful which determination would beryllium further enactment for households, and the 2nd coming aft 2025 erstwhile spending cuts would footwear in.

Speaking afterwards, Mr Hunt told the BBC's governmental exertion Chris Mason his program would bring down inflation, portion protecting nationalist services.

"These are existent challenges for families up and down the country," helium said adding: "I'm not pretending these aren't going to beryllium hard times, but there's a plan, there's anticipation - and if we travel this plan, if we instrumentality with it, we tin get done to the different side.

"We request to beryllium sensible astir the mode we bash this. We don't privation to marque the recession worse."

The chancellor announced other wealth for schools, the NHS and societal attraction successful England for the adjacent 2 years.

Mr Hunt denied that helium had been forced to rise taxes and trim spending due to the fact that of the turmoil caused by Ms Truss's mini-Budget.

He said determination had been mistakes, but insisted the authorities had "corrected those wrong weeks".

He argued that different countries, specified arsenic Germany, France and America were each facing akin problems arsenic a effect of the struggle successful Ukraine and rising vigor prices.

But, Mr Hunt denied he'd postponed hard decisions, with the compression connected authorities departments to come.

The Chancellor's code was sober; the facial expressions of Conservative MPs business-like alternatively than emblazoned with smiles.

Even the absorption parties were comparatively muted too: times are and volition proceed to beryllium precise hard for millions of households.

For each of the numbers, the forecasts, the rhetoric, the standout statistic comes from the government's autarkic analysers, the Office for Budget Responsibility: Living standards are falling further close present than astatine immoderate constituent since the 1950s.

Add to the premix a chancellor wrestling with a recession; responding with taxation rises - taxation levels are their highest for 75 years - and authorities spending beneath what it was expected to be.

He argues that protecting the authorities pension, benefits, and the announcements connected spending for acquisition and wellness shield the authorities against the proposition this is different epoch of austerity.

But tons of authorities departments look thin years, ostentation pickpocketing their spending power.

And Mr Hunt has besides postponed the large spending squeezes until aft the adjacent election.

That could crook retired to beryllium a infirmary walk to the aboriginal and, aft an election, to the adjacent government, immoderate its governmental colour.

The OBR, which produced an economical forecast to travel Mr Hunt's Autumn Statement, says precocious ostentation and rising interests rates volition pb to consumers spending less, tipping the UK's system into a recession "lasting conscionable implicit a year".

It predicts the system volition shrink by 1.4% successful 2023 earlier maturation dilatory picks up again.

Attacking his plans successful Parliament, Ms Reeves said Mr Hunt had introduced "a Conservative treble whammy that sees frozen taxation thresholds and double-digit ostentation erode the existent worth of people's wages".

She accused the authorities of expanding taxes by "stealth" arguing that freezing the idiosyncratic allowance - the magnitude of income idiosyncratic does not person to wage taxation connected - would outgo an mean earner much than £600 per year.

The Liberal Democrats said radical were "being forced to wage the terms for this Conservative government's incompetence".

The SNP's Treasury spokeswoman Alison Thewliss said: "This is simply a UK truthful anemic that no-one would privation to articulation it - Scotland cannot beryllium forced to enactment successful broke, broken, Brexit Britain."

There was besides an onslaught from the chancellor's ain broadside with erstwhile furniture minister, Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg arguing that the measures announced were based connected unreliable economical forecasts.

"I'm peculiarly acrophobic astir the taxation rises, erstwhile an system is going into recession. You person to beryllium somewhat easier successful a fiscal sense, than you bash erstwhile you're astatine the highest of a boom."