Shadow chancellor Alan Johnson accused the British government of taking a “reckless gamble with people’s livelihoods” which could wreck the economic recovery.

British Chancellor George Osborne has set out a four-year plan of cuts today which he said would drag Britain “back from the brink”.

The UK coalition government’s austerity drive will get under way in earnest today when Chancellor George Osborne unveils some of the biggest spending cuts ever attempted in the Western world