Does Labour’s spending review signal a return to austerity?

Rachel Reeves is increasing overall budgets after deep Tory cuts, but some departments face bigger spending cuts than others

Rachel Reeves usually avoids any mention of the word austerity" in connection with her fiscal policies, but on Wednesday, she decided to tackle the argument head on.

In this spending review, total departmental budgets will grow by 2.3% a year in real terms," she told MPs as she announced the next stage of her spending review.