Jeremy Hunt under pressure over taxes as voters likely to get ‘angry’

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is under growing pressure ahead of his budget announcement, which is poised to include tax hikes and spending cuts at the height of the cost-of-living crisis. The move could spark discontent among Conservative voters who are already struggling to pay energy bills and the rising food prices. The director for the Institute of Economic Affairs warned the measure will likely not be welcomed by the electorate.Asked how voters will react to potential tax hikes, IEA’s director general Mark Littlewood told Talk TV: “I think anger is more likely.”I think that’s partly actually because politicians of all stripes haven’t really fronted up with the electorate about how bad our fiscal position is. “For all its flaws, if you went all the way back to 2010 when the Conservatives came to office on coalition with the Liberal Democrats, I actually think they did a pretty good job of explaining to people that the public finances are in a terrible state. “We now decided that we don’t really want to admit that anymore. We’re going to pretend with a little bit of treading here with just another tiny tweak of taxes going up there that we can sort everything out and balance it.” Mark Littlewood warned Jeremy Hunt voters will likely be angry (Image: GETTY TWITTER/@Talk TV) Talk TV’s Julia Hartley-Brewer said there are constant changes to the fiscal gap figure given (Image: TWITTER/@Talk TV)”And I’m afraid that’s not the case,” the IEA’s director said.The Chancellor has pledged to fill a £50billion fiscal hole in the country’s public finances with around £30billion of spending cuts and £20billion in tax rises. But the country’s deficit is significantly higher, Mr Littlewood said.”This figure has emerged that there’s a fiscal blackhole of – I’ve heard variously 40-50-60billion. Talk TV’s Julia Hartley-Brewer erupted: “Yes! It changes every week!”READ MORE: Hunt to hike energy bills cap to eye-watering £3,100 this week Jeremy Hunt confirmed his budget would include tax hikes and spending cuts (Image: GETTY) Jeremy Hunt is expected to detail his fiscal plan on Thursday (Image: GETTY)Mr Littlewood continued: “That’s what experts say. In some ways, thats a bit illusiory because so much of that depends on how bad the recession is or whether you think growth is going to come back into the economy.”But the long-term position really is far worse than that. We’re not 40, 50 or 60billion in debt. We are trillions in debt over the long run.””And if those politicians face up to that and explain that to the elecorate, you can understand why the electorate are angry because all we’re really seeing is short-term crisis management.”Jeremy Hunt faces a make-or-break announcement on Thursday when he is expected to give the full details of his economic plan to plug the fiscal gap or blackhole between £35billion and £60billion.DON’T MISS:Millions of Britons braced for Hunt’s ‘horrible decisions’ [REPORT]     Jeremy Hunt’s economy-saving budget this week will be dead on arrival [REPORT]     ‘Time to get the boost that Brexit promised’ [REPORT]      The new mini budget comes as UK households are struggling to pay energy bills (Image: EXPRESS)”We are going to see everyone paying more tax. We’re going to see spending cuts,” he told BBC’s Kuenssberg Sunday show.Speaking four days ahead of the crucial mini-budget, Mr Hunt confirmed he expects the UK to plunge into recession and said his goal was to make it ‘as short and shallow as possible’ by bearing down on inflation.Liz Truss’ disastrous mini-budget sent shockwaves throughout the economy and foreign markets, sending off a sharp rise in government borrowing costs, which culminated in her resignation as prime minister.The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has warned that a worse economic outlook will raise government borrowing close to £100bn in 2026-27, around £70bn higher than the fiscal watchdog’s budget deficit calculations of just £31.6bn in March.READ NEXT:Belgian radio caller demands Brexit voters ‘punished’ with extra taxesRishi Sunak warns of tax rises and spending cuts ahead of budgetAndrew Neil has Defence minister rattled as he probes Hunt’s spendingJeremy Hunt warned over-correcting markets ‘really dangerous’Vital action to turn around our fortunes – EXPRESS COMMENT