Where are we going to get £8 Billion ?????

Budget 'must raise taxes by £8bn'

By Steve Schifferes Economics reporter, BBC News

The chancellor is expected to deliver his budget in March

Chancellor Alistair Darling will have to raise taxes by £8bn in his Budget if he is to keep to the "golden rule", according to a respected think tank.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies' (IFS) Green Budget warned that without the increases the government would miss its fiscal target on public borrowing.

The IFS said that the economic slowdown would reduce corporate tax revenues, widening the budget black hole.

And it warned that the government could also break its debt rule by 2010/11.

The day of judgement cannot be postponed forever Robert Chote, Director, Institute for Fiscal Studies

That rule would be immediately breached if the government is forced to count its loans to the Northern Rock as part of its debt, which would then soar to 45%, well above the Treasury's 40% limit of total public debt as a share of GDP, or gross domestic product.

And with the government starting a new economic cycle with a large current deficit, it is likely to struggle to meet its "golden rule" - that borrowing and spending should balance out over the whole period of ebbs and flows in growth.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7217412.stm