The autumn statement’s tax rises, spending cuts and acknowledgement of a recession is the primary focus of Friday’s papers.
The Independent, The Times and the Financial Times say the UK is headed for “years of pain”.
The “UK’s lost decade” is front page of the i, with reports earnings will fall back to 2013 levels over the next two years.
Metro says: “You’ve never had it so bad.”
The Daily Mirror calls it “carnage”, while comment on the front of The Daily Telegraph reads: “The rhetoric of Osbourne… with the policies of Brown.”
The Guardian says its “from bad to worse”.
And the Daily Star continues with coverage of “the gimp”.
As Pippa Crerar points out, “that’s a baaaaad set of front pages for the government”.
Related: ‘A Budget that boils the frog’: Reaction to Hunt’s autumn statement
