B
efore this week, chancellor Rishi Sunak had probably spent more public money both in cash terms and as a share of the overall economy than any of his predecessors, certainly in peacetime.
But in his spending review on Wednesday the chancellor seemed determined to show that he could take away as well as give.
He cut the foreign aid budget to be rolled out next year, breaking a Tory manifesto promise. Sunak also froze pay for millions of public sector worker in 2020-21, implying a real-terms pay cut.
