LONDON, Oct. 9 (UPI) -- British Energy Secretary Chris Huhne says the government may have to roll back its plans for spending cuts if the country re-enters recession.
Huhne's comments in an interview with The Daily Telegraph published Saturday suggest a split between Conservatives and Liberal Democrats in the coalition government. Huhne, a Liberal Democrat, compared the budget process to a voyage in a sailboat, saying course changes may be needed if the wind shifts and that the spending cuts are not "lashed to the mast."
Prime Minister David Cameron has demanded the most drastic cuts in government programs since World War II, with reductions of as much as 40 percent in some departments. George Osborne, the chancellor of the exchequer, is to lay out the overall budget Oct. 20.
Huhne, an economist, said a double-dip recession may not be probable but could happen.
"We just don't know, and it's not sensible, outside the Budget period, for governments to make speculations about what is going to happen," he said.
Huhne also expressed doubts about Cameron's plans to change the tax code to provide an incentive for marriage.
