Source : Presstv / 21 Mar 2014

Almost half of Britons expect the coalition government’s 2014 budget to be bad for them personally, a new poll shows.

According to the ComRes/ITV News Index survey, published on Wednesday, some 46 percent of British people predicted that the budget, scheduled to be announced by British Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne later on Wednesday, will be bad for them, while just 9 percent expected it to be good for them personally.

Moreover, the poll found that 47 percent of people think the budget will be bad for the British public as a whole, compared with 16 percent who believe otherwise.

British Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls urged Osborne to "do the right thing" in the budget and consider policies aimed at helping middle and lower income families in the UK.

The Labour politician also said "most people are worse off" now than when Tories took office in 2010.

The current UK government has adopted austerity measures in order to tackle the country's mounting debt and sluggish growth, but the policies have sparked public protests in recent years.

The British Chancellor is expected to keep the Tory-led government’s deficit-slashing policies in place despite reports of economic recovery.

Writing in British tabloid The Sun on Sunday, Osborne said the government should not “waver from” an austerity plan on reduction of the budget deficit.

Earlier in February, 27 of the 59 Church of England bishops accused the coalition of creating hardship and hunger for people, saying the welfare cuts have left so many reliant on food banks across the UK.