Britain will cut 490,000 public sector jobs over four years as part of a sweeping programme of spending cuts, finance minister George Osborne told parliament today.
Mr Osborne said the job losses were 'unavoidable when the country has run out of money'.
The figures were based on the best estimate made by the government's Office for Budget Responsibility, he added.
More details on the cuts here
At £109 billion, Britain has the highest structural deficit in Europe and is paying £43 billion a year in debt interest.
According to the Chancellor, even after today's measures that interest bill will still be £63 billion a year in 2014-15. The total cuts package announced today is worth over £80 billion over the next four years.
The Chancellor said he applied three principles to his spending choices - reform, fairness and growth.
He said that the Treasury will see its overall budget reduced by 33% and the department's building will be shared with part of the Cabinet Office.
He also said that legislation to introduce a permanent tax levy on banks will be published tomorrow.
Mr Osborne said the state pension age for men and women will reach 66 by the year 2020, saving over £5 billion sterling a year by the end of the next Parliament.
He also said the BBC will have to fund the BBC World Service and BBC Monitor as well as part-funding S4C. This will save the Treasury £340m a year, with the licence fee frozen for the next six years. This is equivalent to a 16% cut in the BBC budget over the period.
Mr Osborne confirmed that child benefit to be removed from families with a higher-rate taxpayer, saving £2.5 billion a year. But the benefit will continue to be paid until a child leaves full-time education at the age of 18 or even 19.
