CHANCELLOR George Osborne was expected to announce further deep cuts in public spending in his Autumn Statement today.

Almost every Government department is braced for cuts. And these will filter through to every aspect of our lives; from welfare and benefits to council services and even front line policing.

In one sense, the chancellor's determination that Britain shouldn't spend more than it earns is admirable. Clearly we can't go on doing so forever.

But he doesn't seem to understand the genuine pain his continued harsh austerity measures are causing. And he must be careful of cutting essential services so deeply they end up beyond the point of repair.

The health service is in crisis, with health trusts up and down the country massively in debt.

Meanwhile, a national police leader has warned that further deep cuts in policing budgets could severely affect our ability to deal with terrorists. Closer to home, there are fears that anticipated cuts of 25 per cent in police budgets could hit neighbourhood policing hard.

The chancellor's problems are made worse by a prediction from the Centre for Economics and Business Research that, despite all the cuts so far, he will face a £30 billion black hole in the public finances by the next election.

Weaker than expected growth is partly to blame, and there will be those muttering that a nation needs to invest to grow, and that constant cuts are leaving our economy dangerously weakened.

Many other ordinary people will feel the cuts would be easier to bear if there was a genuine sense that we're all in this together.

But there isn't. There seems to be one rule for the rich, and one for everybody else.

If the chancellor were to close tax loopholes on multinational corporations and do something to curb the growing inequality in society, he might find it easier to take the country with him on his mission to control spending.