The ‘phoney war’ period of the ‘age of austerity’ is over: welcome to a new and nasty normal

摘要

As the Liberal Democrats kick off the party conference season, tax and public spending issues look set to completely dominate politics for the next three years at least. Tony Travers sees the ‘age of austerity’ moving from its ‘phoney war’ stage into a period of potentially radical change – and new and grim social realities for the UK