New UK government cuts billions of pounds of spending to fix 'unsustainable' public finances

Britain's new finance minister Rachel Reeves has announced spending cuts of over 13.5 billion pounds to address a 22 billion pound overspend from the previous government. A further decisions on tax will come in the October 30 budget presented by the newly-elected Labour government. The new government has accepted recommendations on increasing pay for state workers at a cost of 9 billion pounds, prompting accusations of future tax rises from critics.