Spending cuts

David Cameron is defeated in the Commons; Labour votes with the Tories and Nick Clegg has had a go at them all. Where next for the UK in the EU?

Tens of thousands of public sector workers and campaigners march in protest against the government’s spending cuts.

Ahead of his speech to the Conservative conference tomorrow, Prime Minister David Cameron tells Jon Snow there will be no “plan B” and that the government will stick to hard decisions on spending.

When Francois Hollande’s socialist government presents its budget to the French people, it will cast a harsh light on the distinction between election rhetoric and the realities of power.

The Spanish government unveils plans to radically reduce departmental budgets while protecting pensions to pave the way for another bailout from the EU.

Riot police fire tear gas in Athens as clashes break out in the first general strike since the new coalition took power. In Spain, anti-austerity protests threaten to tear the country apart.

The coalition’s economic plan has failed: now families are crying out for change. That’s the view of the shadow Chancellor Ed Balls, who’s warning the UK economy could face long term damage.

Chancellor George Osborne’s deficit reduction programme comes under further pressure after an unexpected rise in government borrowing in July.

Stock markets plunged and the cost of borrowing in Spain and Italy went up as the European Central Bank President Mario Draghi disappointed markets with a non-committal press conference.

As comments from Treasury Minister David Gauke about tax dodging draw a barrage of criticism, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg tells Channel 4 News he ‘may’ have paid in cash, but not to avoid tax.

Worries that Greece may soon be bankrupt and Spain will need a full-scale bailout send the euro sliding and Spanish bond yields soaring to a euro-record high of 7.52 per cent.

Another £50bn has been injected into the economy as Britain struggles to climb out of the double-dip recession – but pensioners and savers say they will come off worse.

A report by Her Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary says three police forces may not be able to provide a sufficiently effective service and warns of more job cuts as forces chase savings.