Prof-Hippo

Claiming the UK is living under austerity is factually wrong. State spending accounts for around 45% of GDP - its highest for decades and the UK’s tax burden is the highest since WW2. We haven’t run an annual surplus this century, and have instead been spending more and more each year (even under the Tories) paid for via borrowing. People use “austerity” as a by-word for “I’m struggling financially”, but the reason people feel squeezed is because our economy is inefficient and unproductive (in large part because of high tax and regulation) - meaning growth remains sluggish and therefore living standards aren’t rising in real terms. The likes of the Greens trot out statistics like “one in three children live in poverty” when what they’re really referring to is relative poverty, not absolute poverty. The latter is a genuine scourge, the former is a left-wing construct that justifies ever increasing levels of state spending which, when that doesn’t produce the desired results, then leads to calls for yet more borrowing, spending and debt. It is an economic doom loop - and NEVER an excuse for violence like in France.