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IFS: Autumn Statement means 'colossal cuts'

Yesterday's Autumn Statement means the UK is set for "cuts on a colossal scale", according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies.

George Osborne earlier condemned "hyperbolic" coverage of his spending plans.

Public spending is likely to fall to its lowest level since the 1930s during the next Parliament, according to new analysis from the Office for Budget Responsibility.

However, Osborne said warnings over the cuts were "nonsense" - particularly targeting the BBC for criticism over its coverage.

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Nick Clegg: I fully support the Autumn Statement

Nick Clegg has dismissed suggestions that he did not turn up to the Autumn Statement because he wanted to distance himself from George Osborne's policies.

Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls had said Mr Clegg had been absent because he hoped "people forget the fact that he voted for the VAT rise and the 'bedroom tax'."

But Mr Clegg roundly rejected the claim, telling listeners on his LBC radio phone-in.

I've been doing autumn statements and budgets for five years now and sitting dutifully there. And, by the way, of course I have worked on this meticulously for weeks.

Everything in that Autumn Statement is in there because we have agreed it and I fully support it. But, then I had a choice - did I listen to Ed Balls in the House of Commons or did I go out and talk to normal people?"

– Nick Clegg

Read: Much more pain to come as cuts deepen after 2015

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IFS: Autumn Statement means 'colossal cuts'

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