Thinktank urges chancellor to end austerity in budget

No case for keeping to surplus plan and focus should be on investment - Fabian Society

Ditching the government's budget plans and adopting Labour's tax and spending proposals would allow Philip Hammond to ditch austerity and pencil in an extra 100bn of spending by the middle of the next decade, according to a leftwing thinktank.

In a report to be published later this week, the Fabian Society said there was no clear case for the chancellor to stick to his plan of running a surplus and that the emphasis should be on investment that would improve the economy's growth rate.