Former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith has warned Britain is heading for a "1970s -style fiscal meltdown" that will require Thatcher-esque leadership to avoid.
Writing in the Telegraph, Smith says Britain's national debt now stands at £2.9trillion, approaching double the £1.6trillion of a decade ago, meaning debt interest alone costs the country a staggering £105billion per year - more than is spent on education or defence.
Smith, who was Secretary of State for Work and Pensions from 2010 to 2016, writes: "Profligate spending on welfare is unsustainable. Debt is now some 100% of GDP, the deficit almost five per cent, and the tax burden at the highest level since the Second World War. Yet despite this, borrowing costs are soaring and unemployment is rising.
"Getting out of this mess this will demand political leadership of the likes of which we have not seen since Margaret Thatcher."
Smith insists this leadership must not involve further tax hikes, but instead focus on reigning in spending such as the "astonishing growth of welfare spending".
He adds: "So the Government faces a choice this autumn: try to stave off fiscal meltdown by raising growth-destroying taxes or take principled welfare reform seriously."
Read the full piece on The Telegraph website here.