'Of course they knew': Labour government aware of poor state of public finances, says IFS

The director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has said the incoming Labour government would have been aware, to a large degree, of "how bad things are in terms of public finances". Speaking to Ali Fortescue on Sky's Politics Hub, Paul Johnson said the IFS and many others "made it clear" that it would be "very hard to avoid cuts", adding that public services such as the NHS, social care and prisons are in a "terrible state". Mr Johnson's comments come amid reports that the government is facing a £20bn "black hole" in public finances, with Chancellor Rachel Reeves vowing to "fix" the "mess" left behind by the Tories. Read more: https://trib.al/Yrxwy1q #Finance #Politics #Labour #UK SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube channel for more videos: http://www.youtube.com/skynews Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/skynews Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/skynews Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/skynews Follow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@skynews For more content go to http://news.sky.com and download our apps: Apple https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/sky-news/id316391924?mt=8 Android https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bskyb.skynews.android&hl=en_GB Sky News Daily podcast is available for free here: https://podfollow.com/skynewsdaily/ Sky News videos are now available in Spanish here/Los video de Sky News están disponibles en español aquí: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzG5BnqHO8oNlrPDW9CYJog To enquire about licensing Sky News content, you can find more information here: https://news.sky.com/info/library-sales