<p><br /> The middle classes still do not understand the scale of the Government spending cuts about to hit them, Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke has said.<br /> </p><p><br /> In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, he warned that the coalition was going to face "some political difficulty" as people began to grasp just how hard they would be hit.<br /> </p><p><br /> Mr Clarke, who was chancellor of the exchequer in the last Conservative government, described the current economic situation as "calamitous" and warned that there would be no "quick rebound".<br /> </p><p><br /> "One reason we're going to get some political difficulty is that (while) the public knows we've got to do something about it, I don't think Middle England has quite taken on board the scale of the problem," he said.<br /> </p><p><br /> "That will emerge as the cuts start coming home this year. We've got to get on with it [but] it's going to be very difficult. If someone says it's not as bad as all that, I say (they) just don't realise the calamitous position we're in.<br /> </p><p><br /> Mr Clarke's gloomy prognosis is likely to alarm both Conservatives and Liberal Democrats in the coalition as they head for important local government and Scottish and Welsh assembly elections in May.<br /> </p><p><br /> They come after shock figures showed that the economy shrank in the last three months of 2010, raising new fears of a possible double-dip recession.<br /> </p><p><br /> Shadow treasury chief secretary Angela Eagle said that Mr Clarke's comments underlined the need for the Government to change its economic strategy.<br /> </p><p><br /> "It's time for David Cameron and George Osborne to wake up and realise their plan isn't working. They need a plan B that puts jobs and growth first and they need it quick."<br /> </p>
