The deficit wasn't going to continue spiralling up indefinitely and it didn't take into account the fact that austerity could have stunted growth quite severely. Compare the EU and UK to the USA, which one struggled for growth? Which used austerity? There is history of austerity in the last and every time it had been in place, the economy had faltered. I cannot think of an austerity economy that has grown well. If the government wants to reduce its bill then it should go all the way in and sell off the public liabilities and let the private sector deal with the costs. If it wants to keep it in public ownership then it needs to properly find it. The issues with the NHS and our appalling productivity shows what happens in an austerity economy. Another 10 years of that and we could start severely lagging behind.
