The effects of austerity will ripple on for years to come

Theresa May vowed an end to the Tories’ public spending cuts – but there’s no end in sight for those affected, writes May Bulman

Theresa May pledged last October to end the Conservatives' austerity measures (PA)

On the stage of the Conservative conference last year, Theresa May pledged to end the Conservatives’ austerity measures, declaring: “The British people need to know that the end is in sight. And our message to them must be this: we get it.”

The then prime minster vowed that Brexit would bring an end to the public spending cuts introduced in the wake of the financial crash a decade ago. Whether austerity can be ended quite so easily is in itself a matter of debate, but when Ms May told the crowds in Birmingham that Britons’ “hard work had paid off”, what she didn’t acknowledge was that for many in the country it isn’t possible to move on from the damage wrought by her government’s policies.

The impact of slashing health and education budgets, closing youth services and minimising social care funding over a decade doesn’t disappear just like that. It lives on for many years – it can last a lifetime.