Penury and decay mark Brexit’s miserable anniversary | William Keegan

Four years after leaving, and with more self-harm in prospect, austerity is eating away at Britain. Where is the indignation?

So we pass the fourth anniversary of Brexit. The trade barriers mount, with the UK reclaiming sovereignty from Brussels" in order to become poorer, and Chancellor Hunt prefers tax cuts to relief of the squeeze on public spending; this latter when local authorities all over the country are threatened with bankruptcy, having already pared vital services to the bone.

Even the International Monetary Fund points to the need for a letup on austerity - a far cry from the 1976 crisis, when James Callaghan's Labour government was besieged by IMF requests for spending cuts.