Councillors reject government’s ‘end of austerity’ claim

Hackney Town Hall.
Hackney councillors have rejected central government’s claims that austerity policies, long protested by local authorities across the country, are coming to an end.
Philip Hammond, Chancellor of the Exchequer, used his last Budget before Brexit to announce that “the era of austerity is finally coming to an end”.
Among Mr Hammond’s announcements were an extra £1 billion over five years for Universal Credit,  an additional £400 million fo