Is austerity in the UK really over after 2018's budget?

Despite promises to the public, the chancellor has eased, not ended, harsh fiscal measures

Philip Hammond knew what he had to do. With Theresa May sitting behind him, the chancellor's job was to put flesh on the bones of the prime minister's promise to the British public that the age of austerity was coming to an end.

He made all the right noises. There was extra money to smooth the introduction of universal credit, now more generous than the benefits it is replacing. There was the carrot dangled in front of cabinet colleagues that they would have more money to divide up in next year's spending round. There were dollops of extra cash for schools, anti-terrorism policing, repairing potholes, and anti-submarine surveillance.