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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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Osborne attacks 'nonsense' spending cuts coverage

George Osborne delivering his Autumn Statement. Credit: PA Wire

George Osborne has hit out at warnings about the impact of a fresh round of government spending cuts on public services, branding them "nonsense".

The Chancellor condemned "hyperbolic" coverage of the UK's fiscal outlook and insisted the Tories would set the UK on "a course to prosperity".

He launched into Radio 4 presenter John Humphrys on the Today programme, saying:

You had BBC correspondents saying Britain is returning to a George Orwell world of the Road to Wigan Pier. It is just such nonsense. I thought the BBC would have learnt over the past four years that its totally hyperbolic coverage of spending cuts has not been matched by what has actually happened

What I reject is the totally hyperbolic BBC coverage of spending reductions. I had all that when you were interviewing me four years ago and has the world fallen in? No, it hasn't.

– George Osborne

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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