There isn’t a formal definition of the policy known as “austerity”. The word was employed by George Orwell in the 1930s, but it first became a common political term during the life of the 1945 Labour government. It was used to describe the decision of the Labour chancellor Stafford Cripps to maintain wartime rationing. Cripps explained that he needed to hold down consumption, but he didn’t use the word austerity himself. Now, I think it is the right word to describe the policy that Rachel Reeves outlined in her spring statement last week.

Source: The Times April 02, 2025 02:46 UTC