Back in 2010, when the Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government began, austerity was the order of the day. The deficit had to be brought down, we were continually told. Public spending was slashed, public sector jobs were cut, wages frozen. We were all in it together, according to then Chancellor of the Exchequer, George
Johnson’s ‘levelling up’ agenda could end the era of neoliberalism in the UK but mark the start of something equally harmful
