UK living standards to plunge

THE UK faces a collapse in living standards, higher bills, tax hikes and increased unemployment as the economy slumps into recession.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt told MPs he was having to make difficult decisions to ensure a "shallower downturn", but the economy was still 1.4% in 2023.

expected to shrink will be A majority of households worse off as a result of Mr Hunt's decisions, which will see the cap on energy bills increase and the tax burden rise to its highest sustained level since the Second World War.

The Chancellor blamed Russian president Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine for a "recession made in Russia", with the spike in energy prices driving up inflation, but he was also being forced to manage the financial turmoil caused by his predecessor Kwasi Kwarteng's mini-budget in September.