Jeremy Hunt: We need to make difficult decisions

Difficult decisions will be needed "across the board" on tax and spending, the new chancellor has said.

Jeremy Hunt told the BBC that some taxes will go up, while government spending may need to fall.

He said two mistakes were made in the mini-budget by Kwasi Kwarteng - cutting the top rate of tax and announcing it without an independent forecast.

But he also praised his predecessor for help offered to people struggling with their energy bills.

Mr Hunt said he agreed with the prime minister's goal of "solving the growth paradox", but added: "The way we went about it clearly wasn't right and that's why I'm sitting here now."

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today Programme, Mr Hunt said: "Taxes are not going to come down by as much as people hoped, and some taxes will have to go up.

"I'm going to be asking all government departments to find additional efficiency savings."

His comments come after the government's mini-budget last month, which included £45bn worth of tax cuts, and sparked turbulence in the financial markets.

Addressing mistakes he said were made by ex-chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng, who was sacked on Friday by the prime minister, Mr Hunt said: "There were two mistakes - it was wrong to cut the top rate of tax for the very highest earners at a time where we're going to have to be asking for sacrifices from everyone to get through a very difficult period.

"And it was wrong to fly blind and to announce those plans without reassuring people with the discipline of the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) that we actually can afford to pay for them."

He said both of these were now in the process of "being put right".