Austerity? It’s never been more than talk

We’ve had enough of “austerity”. “Seven lean years – the Tories have been in power since 2010 – is the biblical maximum.” That’s the narrative we’ve grown to accept, says Dominic Lawson. But it ignores one thing: the tough austerity talk has never really been matched by action. Between 2010 and 2016, Britain’s public debt just went on rising – from 76% to 89% of national income. Each week we spend £1bn more than we raise in taxes. And that figure is bound to shoot up further now that Theresa May is dependent on the support of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). For no one is better at shaking “the magic money tree” than Northern Ireland’s politicians. In 2015-16, the province consumed £5,437 more per head in public spending than it raised in taxes. Now, as the price of its support, the DUP wants the Tories to give up any ideas about reforming the pensions triple lock or means-testing the winter fuel allowance; and it wants Northern Ireland exempted from the BBC licence fee and air passenger duty. Safe to say, the UK won’t be living within its means any time soon.