‘Not time for tax hikes’

JEREMY Hunt was yesterday urged not to hike taxes and cut spending as the UK edged closer to recession.

A leading economic think-tank said Britain should not feel pressure to change government policies to avoid upsetting financial markets. Official figures released yesterday showed GDP shrank by 0. per cent in the third quarter of the year. But it is feared pressure on the economy could intensify if the Chancellor bows to pressure to fix a £50billion fiscal black hole in next Thursday’s Budget.

Stephen Millard, of the National Institute for Economic and Social Research, said: ‘Now is not the time for spending cuts or tax rises... We want to be expanding fiscal policy.’