As the Spending Review looms over Westminster, Britain must not lie down and accept decline, writes Simon Clarke

Next week’s Spending Review looms large over Westminster. The bottom line, of course, is that Britain doesn’t have enough money to do everything this government wants to do – and as well as making tough choices about priorities next week, Rachel Reeves will almost certainly have to raise taxes in the Autumn Budget (perhaps dressed up as paying for this week’s woefully unfunded Defence Review).

Welcome to the growth crisis. Over the last 10 years UK GDP growth has averaged just 1.44 per cent, while the population has grown by between four and five per cent. This matters because a fundamental principle of a market-driven economy is that consistent growth generates a gradual rise in overall living standards. Growth also provides the tax yields that fund our public services, the cost of which is only set to rise as our society ages. Just to fund current spending commitments........

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