Posted on News.BBC.co.uk/:
The government must act now to cut public debt or risk losing its ability to protect people in need, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg is expected to say.
He is to give a speech in London a week before an emergency Budget to set out the government's plans to cut debt.
He will say the debt crisis in Europe has forced "action now so that we can still be in control of our future".
In the general election, the Lib Dem leader campaigned against spending cuts until economic recovery was secure.
But Mr Clegg will tell the Institute for Government: "The choices that were available to us just two months ago are no longer available. We have to take action now so that we can still be in control of our future."
As an austerity drive has swept Europe among countries striving to slash budget deficits, markets have been charging high premiums to buy bonds from governments "whose plans they distrust", Mr Clegg will warn.
"Markets have stopped believing that all European governments can service their debts."
He will add: "We simply cannot afford to let that happen to us too."
The deputy prime minister will say: "By taking action, we do something hugely important: we give ourselves the chance to shape outcome; to do all we can to bring down the deficit in a way that delivers fairness; to protect those who need it most."
To avoid tackling the public deficit "would not only be irresponsible, it would be a betrayal of our progressive values", Mr Clegg will say.
"There is nothing progressive about condemning ourselves and our children to decades of debt, higher interest rates, fewer jobs.
"How will we pursue social justice with billions of pounds of taxpayers' money disappearing down a black hole every year, just to pay the interest on our debt while our schools and hospitals fall apart?"
Posted by Joe Martin providing business services for small businesses and the self employed. Find me at joemartin.co.uk
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