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The British press predicted the New Year will be a struggle for many as deep cuts in public spending bite and rises in sales tax and fuel prices hit consumers.
The Daily Mail said 2011 would be 'the toughest year for the middle class since 1982' as a result of the value-added tax rise from 17.5 per cent to 20 per cent, falling house prices and changes to the child welfare system.
Like the Mail, the Daily Telegraph focused on the financial pain in store for 'squeezed' middle-class' families, calculating that they will be 3,000 pounds (S$6,011) on average worse off in 2011.
Prime Minister David Cameron's coalition government has imposed sweeping cuts in a bid to reduce a deficit of around 150 billion pounds, but union leaders have warned of a furious backlash and have threatened mass strike action.
A sombre editorial in The Times warned: 'This will be the year when spending cuts pass from being an abstraction to being a reality.
'So far, the debate has largely been in anticipation of imminent pain. Programmes that existed last year will not be renewed this year. Public servants who came to work in 2010 will no longer have jobs.'
ST
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