Jeremy Hunt has said everyone is going to be paying higher taxes but those who earn the most will have to make larger sacrifices.
The chancellor told the Sophy Ridge on Sunday programme during Thursday's autumn statement he "will be asking everyone for sacrifices" but recognises there is "only so much we can ask" from people on the lowest incomes.
"That will be reflected in the decisions that I take, that's important because Britain is a decent country, a fair country, a compassionate country," Mr Hunt said.
"We're all going to be paying a bit more tax, I'm afraid."
Ministers are understood to be considering lowering the threshold at which employees pay the highest 45p rate of income tax from £150,000 to £125,000, the Sunday Telegraph reports.
Nurses across the UK this week voted to go on strike for the first time, likely next month, as they demand a 17% pay rise.
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Mr Hunt, who was health secretary when junior doctors went on strike for the first time in 2015, said he was "very conscious" of nurses' concerns and understands they are asking for that above-inflation increase because of the impact of inflation on their pay packet.
But he said: "I think we have to recognise a difficult truth that if we gave everyone inflation-proof pay rises, inflation would stay. We wouldn't bring down inflation.
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"And that's why, you know, I'm not pretending there aren't some difficult decisions.
"The way through this is to bring down inflation as quickly as possible, because that is the root cause of your concern, your anger, your frustration, that your pay isn't going as far as it might."
Image:Jeremy Hunt told Sophy Ridge on Sunday tax will be increased for everyone
Mr Hunt promised the autumn statement will "not just be bad news" but said he believes the public recognises "if you want to give people confidence about the future you have to be honest about the present".
He said his plan will be both short and long-term and will bring down inflation, control high energy prices and "get our way back to growing, healthily".
The chancellor said his plan will help get the UK out of a recession as quickly and with as little pain as possible as he also promised help for energy bills not just this winter, but next.
But he also said spending cuts from government departments will be needed and hinted no more funding will be given to the NHS.
He said the health service's funding is already going up but the government needs to do "everything we can to find efficiencies" within the NHS.
Mr Hunt, asked if the NHS is on the brink of collapse, admitted doctors and nurses "on the frontline are frankly under unbearable pressure so I do recognise the picture".
Jeremy Hunt's gloomy outlook will worry people - including Tory MPs
The government is zig zagging at speed with its economic policy and borrowing to invest one week while cutting our cloth to our means the next.
It's no surprise that people's heads are spinning.
That was a very depressing, gloomy interview with Jeremy Hunt in which he emphasised the world has changed so he has to bring in a lot of pain.
I think that will worry people, including Tory MPs.
Liz Truss wanted to borrow too much in order to promote growth and I wonder whether or not the conversation after Thursday is whether or not Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt haven't done the same thing but in the other direction.
Whether the eye-watering pain they're going to initiate on Thursday doesn't go too far. Whether it's commensurate with the size of the problem that we've got.
He added that public services need a strong economy but that applies the other way around as well.
And he said the NHS can help get the UK out of the current economic difficulties, such as helping the growing number of people out of work due to long-term sickness.
Simon Clarke, the former levelling up secretary under Liz Truss, told Sophy Ridge on Sunday he would rather see public spending cuts than tax rises in the fiscal statement.
He said: "I would strongly urge that the great balance of this statement should come from spending reductions because I really do think that there is an issue with our raising the burden of taxation on Britain at this time."
Mr Clarke added that government spending has risen "substantially" over the past decade so there is "potential" to make savings that "did not damage public services".
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Minister hints at windfall tax expansion
Labour's shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves said the chancellor could still make "fair choices" in the autumn statement that do not place the burden on the public by closing tax loopholes and backdating the windfall tax on energy companies' profits to January and extending it by two years.
She said the windfall tax extension could raise an additional £50bn.
Ms Reeves also called for a general election as she said Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has "no mandate for the cuts and tax increases" because he was not voted in by the country, but by Conservative MPs.
Jeremy Hunt has said everyone is going to be paying higher taxes but those who earn the most will have to make larger sacrifices.
The chancellor told the Sophy Ridge on Sunday programme during Thursday's autumn statement he "will be asking everyone for sacrifices" but recognises there is "only so much we can ask" from people on the lowest incomes.
"That will be reflected in the decisions that I take, that's important because Britain is a decent country, a fair country, a compassionate country," Mr Hunt said.
"We're all going to be paying a bit more tax, I'm afraid."
Ministers are understood to be considering lowering the threshold at which employees pay the highest 45p rate of income tax from £150,000 to £125,000, the Sunday Telegraph reports.
Nurses across the UK this week voted to go on strike for the first time, likely next month, as they demand a 17% pay rise.
More on Jeremy Hunt
Related Topics:
Mr Hunt, who was health secretary when junior doctors went on strike for the first time in 2015, said he was "very conscious" of nurses' concerns and understands they are asking for that above-inflation increase because of the impact of inflation on their pay packet.
But he said: "I think we have to recognise a difficult truth that if we gave everyone inflation-proof pay rises, inflation would stay. We wouldn't bring down inflation.
Advertisement
"And that's why, you know, I'm not pretending there aren't some difficult decisions.
"The way through this is to bring down inflation as quickly as possible, because that is the root cause of your concern, your anger, your frustration, that your pay isn't going as far as it might."
Image:Jeremy Hunt told Sophy Ridge on Sunday tax will be increased for everyone
Mr Hunt promised the autumn statement will "not just be bad news" but said he believes the public recognises "if you want to give people confidence about the future you have to be honest about the present".
He said his plan will be both short and long-term and will bring down inflation, control high energy prices and "get our way back to growing, healthily".
The chancellor said his plan will help get the UK out of a recession as quickly and with as little pain as possible as he also promised help for energy bills not just this winter, but next.
But he also said spending cuts from government departments will be needed and hinted no more funding will be given to the NHS.
He said the health service's funding is already going up but the government needs to do "everything we can to find efficiencies" within the NHS.
Mr Hunt, asked if the NHS is on the brink of collapse, admitted doctors and nurses "on the frontline are frankly under unbearable pressure so I do recognise the picture".
He added that public services need a strong economy but that applies the other way around as well.
And he said the NHS can help get the UK out of the current economic difficulties, such as helping the growing number of people out of work due to long-term sickness.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
1:04
Minister hints at windfall tax expansion
Simon Clarke, the former levelling up secretary under Liz Truss, told Sophy Ridge on Sunday he would rather see public spending cuts than tax rises in the fiscal statement.
He said: "I would strongly urge that the great balance of this statement should come from spending reductions because I really do think that there is an issue with our raising the burden of taxation on Britain at this time."
Mr Clarke added that government spending has risen "substantially" over the past decade so there is "potential" to make savings that "did not damage public services".
Labour's shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves said the chancellor could still make "fair choices" in the autumn statement that do not place the burden on the public by closing tax loopholes and backdating the windfall tax on energy companies' profits to January and extending it by two years.
She said the windfall tax extension could raise an additional £50 billion.
Ms Reeves also called for a general election as she said Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has "no mandate for the cuts and tax increases" because he was not voted in by the country, but by Conservative MPs.
Thousands of migrants passing through the Manston processing centre will be vaccinated against diphtheria after dozens of cases of the highly contagious disease were confirmed in England, health authorities have said.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said it is moving with the Home Office to vaccinate migrants at the centre after it revealed on Friday that 39 diphtheria cases had been identified in asylum seekers in England in 2022 as of 10 November.
The UKHSA warned accommodation settings should be considered "high-risk for infectious diseases".
The agency said in many cases the illness had been contracted abroad and carried to the UK and it stressed the need for action to "minimise the risk of further transmission".
Sky News has obtained public health documents showing growing concern over the spread of disease in accommodation used to house asylum seekers.
The memo, sent by the UKHSA to the Home Office and public health directors, says the risk to the general public is considered very low.
It raises the risk of diseases such as diphtheria and scabies in processing centres and asylum seeker accommodation and says cases could put pressure on local health services.
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"Many of the individuals passing through Manston Immigration Centre come from countries with disrupted health services, low vaccination rates and a high prevalence of infectious diseases," the note says.
"The prolonged journeys these individuals have undergone and the use of shared facilities, has increased the risk of infections and outbreaks."
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Asylum seekers say rotten food is making them ill
Overcrowding in blamed for rise in cases
Information for accommodation staff said: "We are seeing an increasing number of infections in people who have come to the UK to seek asylum.
"The reasons for this include sharing accommodation facilities and overcrowding, long journeys and poor conditions while travelling, low vaccination coverage, and higher rates of some infections around the world."
Sky News understands there are concerns about potential outbreaks in Swindon, Sheffield, Kent, Birmingham, Hertfordshire and Greater Manchester.
Vaccinations and antibiotics recommended
Dr Gayatri Amirthalingam, the UKHSA's deputy director of public health programmes, confirmed work is ongoing with the Home Office to roll out vaccines and antibiotics at Manston.
"The UKHSA has been working closely with the Home Office at the Manston Reception Centre where there have been a number of cases of diphtheria and other infections," he said.
"We recommend that diphtheria vaccination and antibiotics are offered to people at the centre and all those who have moved on recently.
"This is currently being operationalised and we are working with the Home Office and the NHS to make this happen."
A Home Office spokesperson said: "We are aware of a very small number of cases of diphtheria reported at Manston. Full medical guidance and protocols have been followed.
"We take both the welfare of those in our care and our wider public health responsibilities extremely seriously. As such, we will continue to work closely with the NHS and UK Health Security Agency to support the individuals affected and limit transmission of the infection, including providing diphtheria vaccines."
A deal on Channel crossings?
Meanwhile, a deal between the UK and France on Channel crossings is expected in the coming week.
A provisional total of arrivals for 2022 had been 39,913 ahead of the weekend, but more people arrived in the UK on Saturday for the first time this month after a spell of bad weather.
No protests would be held on Friday or in the "foreseeable future", a spokesman said. The pause would allow the government "to do the right thing".
The Met Police said 58 people had been charged over the four days of protests.
Police said the move to halt protests would help them "focus resources" on other crime.
Just Stop Oil has said it wants the government to halt new licences for the exploration of oil and other fossil fuels in the UK.
Despite ceasing any existing protests which may have been planned on the M25, the spokesperson said they did not rule out returning to the motorway in the future.
"We're not saying we're going back to the motorway, but we're not saying we won't go back either. But we've stopped this for the moment," they said.
The Home Office said it was giving police strengthened powers to "match the rise in guerrilla protest tactics".
A spokesperson said: "Not only is the serious disruption we have experienced recently extremely dangerous for all involved, it costs the taxpayer millions and is draining police resources."
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Activists earlier this week climbed on overhead gantries in multiple locations of the M25 causing the motorway to be closed.
Essex Police said there was a collision involving the police motorcyclist and two lorries during a rolling roadblock.
Chief Constable BJ Harrington warned it is "only a matter of time" before someone is killed during a protest.
Surrey Police has welcomed the demonstrations being halted, and said it would allow the force to "focus resources on tackling other crime within our communities.
"However, we are not being complacent and have resources in place to deal with any further disruption if required," a spokesperson added.
The Just Stop Oil spokesperson told Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to "consider his statement at Cop27, where he spoke of the catastrophic threat posed by the ravages of global heating, the 33 million people displaced by floods in Pakistan, and the moral and economic imperative to honour our pledges".
The environmental activist group was founded after Extinction Rebellion and Insulate Britain, with organisers from both at the helm.
Rory Kennedy, co-founder of the US-based Climate Emergency Fund, which funds Just Stop Oil, told The World Tonight on BBC Radio 4 that there would be no let-up in the group's activities in the UK.
Ms Kennedy said protests would continue until government commitments over fossil fuels are changed. She said protesters would stay in "emergency mode" in order to "stave off the worst climate emergency we've ever faced".
Suella Braverman said the "disruption is a threat to our way of life", during a speech on Wednesday.
The Metropolitan Police said eleven people are appearing in courts across the country following this week's protests.
LONDON, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Britain's economy shrank in the three months to September at the start of what is likely to be a lengthy recession, underscoring the challenge for finance minister Jeremy Hunt as he prepares to raise taxes and cut spending next week.
Economic output shrank by 0.2% in the third quarter, less than the 0.5% contraction analysts had forecast in a Reuters poll, Friday's official data showed.
But it was the first fall in gross domestic product since the start of 2021, when Britain was still under tight coronavirus restrictions, as households and businesses struggle with a severe cost-of-living crisis.
Britain's economy is now further below its pre-pandemic size - it is the only Group of Seven economy yet to recover fully from the COVID slump - and is smaller than it was three years ago on a calendar-quarter basis.
The Resolution Foundation think tank said that although the fall was smaller than investors had feared, it left Britain on course for its fastest return to recession since the mid-1970s.
Its research director James Smith said the figures provided a sobering backdrop for Hunt's Nov. 17 budget announcement, when he will try to convince investors that Britain can fix its public finances - and its credibility on economic policy - after Liz Truss's brief spell as prime minister.
"The Chancellor will need to strike a balance between putting the public finances on a sustainable footing, without making the cost-of-living crisis even worse, or hitting already stretched public services," Smith said.
Responding to the data, Hunt repeated his warnings that tough decisions on tax and spending would be needed.
"I am under no illusion that there is a tough road ahead - one which will require extremely difficult decisions to restore confidence and economic stability," Hunt said in a statement.
People walk across Millennium Bridge with the City of London financial district seen behind, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in London, Britain, January 20, 2021. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
"But to achieve long-term, sustainable growth, we need to grip inflation, balance the books and get debt falling," he added. "There is no other way."
RECESSION REALITY
The Bank of England said last week that Britain's economy was set to go into a recession that would last two years if interest rates were to rise as much as investors had been pricing.
Even without further rate hikes, the economy would shrink in five of the six quarters until the end of 2023, it said.
"Fears of a recession are turning into reality," Suren Thiru, economics director for the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, said.
"This fall in output is the start of a punishing period as higher inflation, energy bills and interest rates clobber incomes, pushing us into a technical recession from the end of this year."
In September alone, when the funeral of Queen Elizabeth was marked with a one-off public holiday that shut many businesses, Britain's economy shrank by 0.6%, the Office for National Statistics said. That was a bigger monthly fall than a median forecast for a 0.4% contraction in the Reuters poll and the largest since January 2021, when there was a COVID-19 lockdown.
But gross domestic product data for August was revised to show a marginal 0.1% contraction compared with an original reading of a 0.3% shrinkage, and GDP in July was now seen as having grown by 0.3%, up from a previous estimate of 0.1%.
The upward revisions to July and August's GDP data mostly reflected new, quarterly figures on health and education output, alongside some stronger readings from the professional and scientific and wholesale and retail sectors, the ONS said.
Reporting by William Schomberg and David Milliken; Editing by Kate Holton and Catherine Evans
