UK faces £33bn hole in finances or return to austerity,

Labour and the Conservatives want to reduce national debt, but Resolution Foundation says promises ‘detached from reality’

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Britain’s next government will need to fill a shortfall of up to £33bn in the public finances unless it is prepared to push through a fresh round of severe austerity measures, a thinktank has warned.

The Resolution Foundation said the debate between Labour and the Conservatives over the funding of specific pledges was “detached from reality”, with election promises based on cuts that would be hard to deliver.