Austerity plan could last until 2020, says Cameron

British prime minister David Cameron has said he cannot see an end to his government’s austerity programme while Britain tackles its huge budget deficit amid deteriorating economic conditions.

Mr Cameron indicated yesterday that Britain’s programme of spending cuts, initially planned to take five years, could last until 2020.

“This is a period for all countries — not just in Europe, but I think you will see it in America too — where we have to deal with our deficits and we have to have sustainable debts. I can’t see any time soon when... the pressure will be off,” Mr Cameron said in an interview with the Daily Telegraph.

When the Conservative/ Liberal Democratic coalition took power in 2010, it introduced an austerity programme of increased spending cuts and tax increases that was intended to finish by 2015.

The programme was extended to 2017 last year, however, and is expected to save the government about £110bn (€140bn).

“I don’t see a time when difficult spending choices are going to go away... we are in a very difficult situation,” said Mr Cameron.

Britain’s budget deficit peaked at over £156bn, or 11% of GDP, in 2009/10.

“I don’t deny for a minute that it is a lot tougher than the forecasters were expecting,” he said.

Cameron said it had been a “very tough time to be in government”.

Britain was hit hard by the 2007-09 financial crisis, and had to spend tens of billions to bail out major banks.

The recovery from the slump has been weak, with stuttered growth, soaring unemployment, and a squeeze on living conditions and household budgets for ordinary Britons.

“We’ve had one of the longest and deepest recessions for decades in Britain,” said Mr Cameron. “It was an incredibly tough set of circumstances and it has proved very hard to get out of those situations.”

On the issue of Europe, Mr Cameron said he did not believe that Britain should leave the EU and he would never campaign for an “out” vote in any referendum.

Rather, Mr Cameron indicated that he would seek to negotiate a “new settlement” with Europe, which will be put to a referendum rather than offering an in-out vote.