Britain's Labour finance minister Rachel Reeves declared Monday that the public finances face an extra £22-billion hole inherited from the previous Conservative administration and warned of "difficult decisions" ahead to cut spending or hike taxes. "If left unaddressed, it would mean a 25-percent increase in the budget deficit this year," she told lawmakers, citing a detailed audit of the public purse. - 'Not sustainable' -"So I will today set out the necessary and urgent work that I have already done to reduce that pressure on the public finances by £5.5 billion this year and over £8.0 billion next year." Before the election, Reeves vowed to exercise "iron discipline" over the public finances -- and slammed the disastrous 2022 mini-budget during the short-lived premiership of Liz Truss. Ahead of Monday's statement, The Sunday Times newspaper and other media had already reported that Reeves' team had identified an additional public finances black hole of around £20 billion.
