Tory tensions over autumn statement erupt as UK heads for recession

Chancellor warns of ‘eye-watering’ decisions to come

The UK is heading for what could be the longest recession on record new figures have confirmed as Tory tensions over next week’s autumn statement erupted in public.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt braced the public for tax rises and public spending cuts as he warned of “eye-watering” decisions ahead, after the Office for National Statistics announced the UK economy shrank in the last quarter.

But he also hit out at his predecessor, after Kwasi Kwarteng claimed Liz Truss’s disastrous 50 days in office were not to blame for the UK’s economic woes.