Osborne said to face £20bn black hole in Budget

George Osborne is potentially facing a £20bn black hole in the public purse when he delivers the next Budget, according to a recreation of government models put together by the Financial Times.

Ahead of the upcoming 2014 Budget in under two weeks, the paper said models it had created which replicate the Office for Budget Responsibility's own forecasts showed a huge gap in the public finances. The Chancellor of the Exchequer could now face a difficult challenge to cut back on spending - having already reduced welfare allowances sharply - and may have to announce spending cuts or tax rises to tackle the overspend. The FT said the black hole it had found stems from the difference between the actual deficit - expected to be close to £111bn in 2013-14 - and the cyclically adjuste...