Austerity Chancellor George Osborne has held talks in Downing Street as Rishi Sunak eyes up £50BILLION of spending cuts and tax rises.
The Tory slasher met one-to-one with new Chancellor Jeremy Hunt in 11 Downing Street on Thursday ahead of the November 17 Autumn Statement.
It was thought reported Mr Hunt had to fill a £35bn-a-year black hole left by Liz Truss ’s tax cuts and the worsening economy.
But it’s understood the true figure is closer to £50bn-a-year.
New PM Rishi Sunak is thought to have spent more than an hour poring through spreadsheets with his Chancellor in a separate meeting yesterday.
A Treasury source told the Times: “Markets have calmed somewhat, but the picture is still bleak.
“Britain is facing an economic crisis with a massive fiscal black hole to fill.
“People should not underestimate the scale of this challenge, or how tough the decisions will have to be. We’ve seen what happens when governments ignore this reality.”
Downing Street have refused to promise pensions or benefits will rise with inflation - despite Rishi Sunak previously saying they would.
Raising the state pension by earnings instead would deprive more than 12million Brits of nearly £500 a year.
Mental health organisations including Rethink Mental Illness, Mind and the Royal College of Psychiatrists today demanded Jeremy Hunt protect mental health funding.
In a letter to the new Chancellor they said: “We are now facing a crisis in the nation’s mental health which the NHS alone cannot address on existing let alone reduced funding - no matter how dedicated and innovative its staff are.
“The Royal College of Psychiatrists data shows children’s mental health service referrals were up 104% in 2021/22 compared to 2019/20.
“And at least 1.4 million people of all ages on an NHS mental health service waiting list.”
They added: “We appreciate difficult decisions need to be made about the nation’s finances.
“But reducing the funding available to mental health services would be totally inconsistent with protecting the most vulnerable.”
The October 31 “medium term fiscal plan” was moved to November 17 and turned into a full Autumn Statement as every department in Whitehall is asked to draw up a plan for cutbacks.
Tearing up Liz Truss’s short-lived push for growth, No10 also refused to say defence spending would rise to 3% of GDP by 2030.
But Mr Sunak risks a Cabinet revolt after several of the ministers he appointed have spoken out powerfully against cuts in their own department.
Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride and Chief Secretary to the Treasury John Glen have both suggested benefits should rise with inflation.
Development Minister Andrew Mitchell has called for aid spending to return to 0.7% of GDP.
