Britons fear hard year ahead amid austerity cuts: poll

Two-thirds of Britons believe the economy will fare badly in 2011 as harsh austerity cuts designed to tackle a record deficit begin to bite, a poll showed today.

One in five also said they could see themselves being involved in demonstrations against the spending cuts introduced by the government.

The findings in the survey for The Times newspaper highlight fears of a bleak year ahead in Britain, where the recently formed Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government is seeking to make huge savings.

The government, formed after inconclusive polls in May, unveiled the harshest spending cuts for decades in October aimed at eliminating Britain's record 154.7-billion-pound ($238 billion) deficit.

Nearly half a million public sector jobs are expected to go over four years as a result of the savings with most government departments facing average spending cuts of 19 per cent.

Today's survey, carried out by pollster Populus, showed two-thirds of people believe they will have less spending money in the coming year and a high number of people expect to fall behind with some bills.

Thirty-eight per cent of people quizzed predicted they would struggle to pay all their household bills on time, according to the poll.