Has Rachel Reeves made the right choices? Our panel responds to the spending review | Sahil Dutta , Kirsty Major and Dhananjayan Sriskandarajah

By the raw numbers alone, Labour can say this is no return to austerity. The government, after all, will dole out billions for capital projects, and day-to-day NHS spending will rise. But for many, it won’t feel that way. 

Because the lived reality of austerity was never just about spending in the aggregate. It was about who and what we prioritised as a society. Money was stripped from the young, the sick, the poor, the arts, education and local government. Workers and regions of “low productivity” sectors decayed, while riches were showered on the already wealthy. 

In its fixation on the fantasy of high economic growth, Labour is unable to fully break from that. Instead, it…