TUC general secretary Brendan Barber has outlined some of the myths underpinning the government's programme of deep, fast spending cuts and outlined the alternatives, on the TUC's Touchstone blog website.

He says the TUC is no deficit denier but the government's answer, “to slash public spending with reckless speed – is based not on a sound reading of the evidence, but on an ideological zeal to shrink the size of the state.”

Barber says jobs and growth must be the priority, keeping people in work, keeping tax revenues flowing and limiting the huge social costs of unemployment.

“And rather than swingeing cuts, we need a much more prominent role for progressive taxes – not least on the City and the bankers who caused this mess. The TUC believes this is the fairest and most sustainable way of tackling the deficit.”