Brits have "just got a lot poorer" and those on middle incomes are "set for a shock" Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has been warned after his brutal Autumn Statement.
In a bleak verdict, the respected Institute for Fiscal Studies said a series of economic "own goals" had worsened the UK's "long, hard, unpleasant journey".
As the recession takes hold, economists said a historic fall in living standards will "hit everyone" and higher taxes could last several decades.
