UK living standards on track to worsen despite tax cuts
Electionyear decline would be first since 1974
Think tanks warn many public services face squeeze
Minister says pandemic and inflation forced tough choices

LONDON, Nov 23 Reuters British voters are set to suffer a living standards disaster as they face an unprecedented fall in household incomes between one national election and the next, even taking Jeremy Hunt39;s new tax cut plan into account, a think tank said on Thursday.

Finance minister Hunt offered a biggerthanexpected cut in national insurance contributions in a budget update on Wednesday which was widely seen as designed to help Prime Minister Rishi Sunak39;s Conservative Party in an election expected in 2024.

The opposition Labour Party is around 20 percentage points ahead of the Conservatives in opinion polls.

But Hunt39;s 10billionpound 12.5 billion payroll tax giveaway is dwarfed by employment tax increases since the Conservatives won the 2019 election, including his decision to freeze income tax thresholds a year ago, pushing more earners into higher tax brackets.

This parliament is set to achieve a truly grim new record the first in which household incomes will be lower at its end than its beginning, Torsten Bell, chief executive of the Resolution Foundation, said.

Britain39;s public finances are under strain after huge government spending to prop up the economy during the COVID pandemic and then to subsidise household energy bills when…