UK Chancellor to unveil details of austerity drive

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.

Mr Osborne is expected to warn of a “hard road” ahead as he details £83bn (€94bn) of reductions to tackle the deficit, which will see nearly 500,000 public sector jobs culled over the next four years.