Austerity for 10 years as no 'quick fix' for Britain, Reform warns

Britain needs 10 years of austerity to fix its economic problems, a leading think-tank has warned as it questioned Coalition plans to restore growth by unleashing a building boom and urged George Osborne to stick to his spending cuts.

 

Painting a bleak picture for the recovery, Reform said that "slow growth is inevitable given the levels of debt in the economy". It added: "Even under the best economic scenario, the programme of austerity should be at least a 10-year project with the first parliamentary term achieving deficit reduction and the second consolidating the gains."  

The think-tank stressed that economic success now depends on "growth and public service reform, both of which are behind schedule". 

To keep the deficit reduction plan on track, it said: " George Osborne needs further reductions in the NHS and welfare budgets, the least productive areas of government spending."