Is Britain about to enter another round of austerity?

There are ever more signs that the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, will use her spring statement next week to introduce further public spending cuts, augmenting fears that the country could be on the verge of a new age of austerity. How has the growth agenda morphed so soon into something akin to its opposite?

- MARY DEJEVSKY

Why might new cuts be needed?

The growth that was the theme of Reeve's first Budget last autumn has failed to materialise, and economic forecasts have become ever more pessimistic. The Bank of England last month reduced its growth forecast for this financial year by half - from 1.5 per cent to 0.75 per cent, and predicted higher inflation.

Worse, according to the National Institute of Economic and Social Research think tank, the combination of poor growth and rising interest rates has reduced the chancellor's spending buffer - or fiscal headroom - from an estimated £10bn to zero. And while the effect of US trade tariffs could be less damaging to the UK than to EU and other countries, there could still be a cost.

Hasn't the government done enough?