'Unsustainable' pressure warning

Britain's ageing population and strained healthcare system means an extra £19 billion of spending cuts or tax hikes are needed to combat an "unsustainable" pressure on the nation's public finances, the official forecaster has warned.

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) said the Government would need to find the additional savings in the year to April 2019 on top of the current £153 billion in austerity measures to get debt down to 40% of economic output.

If no action is taken, the burden of an ageing population in terms of pensions and healthcare will wipe out much of Chancellor George Osborne's spending cuts, leaving the UK with a £65 billion hole in its finances, according to the OBR.

In its annual fiscal sustainability report, it said: "It is clear that longer-term spending pressures, if unaddressed, would put the public finances on an unsustainable path."

"Public sector net debt would approach 100% of gross domestic product (GDP) and still be rising," it added.

The OBR said the move to a single-tier state pension had slightly eased the pressure on public sector debt, but added that spending on healthcare was the biggest spending pressure over the next 50 years.