Britain's coalition government defended plans on Sunday to consider far deeper public spending cuts than expected after opponents warned that it could trigger a second recession and a wave of strikes.
The opposition Labour Party, which lost power in May after 13 years, said the government's decision to look at cuts of up to 40%, instead of the 25% announced last month, could lead to one million job losses.
However, Transport Secretary Philip Hammond said departments were unlikely to see full 40% cuts, a level rarely seen in developed countries, despite being asked to consider them.
"What we are not going to do is just slice 25% off every department. We will look at the menu of options for each department," he told the BBC. "I don't expect any departments will see a 40% cut, but some departments may see cuts a bit higher than 25%."
Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron's top priority is to cut the record peacetime deficit he inherited from Labour, but he must balance that against keeping a promise to protect some public services and the need to hold together the coalition with the Liberal Democrats.
Financial markets broadly welcomed the government's budget last month which laid out the harshest cuts in decades to reduce the deficit and avoid a Greek-style debt crisis.
Austerity measures in Greece have led to national strikes, mass rallies and clashes with police. Heavily indebted Spain has also seen widespread strikes and protests.
"RECOVERY AT RISK"
Former Labour minister Ed Balls, campaigning to become party leader after the departure of defeated prime minister Gordon Brown, said the cuts would "send a chill down the spines of millions".
"The government's own forecasts show these measures will put our recovery at risk with lower growth and over a million jobs lost," he said. "These plans risk a double-dip recession."
Mark Serwotka, head of the Public and Commercial Services Union, whose 300,000 members include many civil servants, said such cuts could lead to the worst industrial unrest for years.
"They will face resistance the like of which we haven't seen in this country for decades," he told the BBC. "We will see not just co-ordinated industrial action by unions but campaigns in every community."
The education, health and defence ministries would be spared the unprecedented levels of cuts. Those affected include the interior ministry, transport and work and pensions departments.
Former Liberal Democrat leader Paddy Ashdown dismissed suggestions of a second recession and said the bigger risk was of losing the markets' confidence by failing to make cuts. "There are tough decisions being taken and they are the right decisions," he told Sky News.
