Ed Balls called out Pat McFadden over austerity fearsEd Balls pressed cabinet minister Pat McFadden this morning over fears that Labour will be bringing back austerity in Wednesday’s Budget.The Conservatives first introduced the policy in 2010 with severe cuts to public services, and brought it back in 2021, after the Covid lockdown.Labour has repeatedly pledged that it has no plans to bring austerity in again with its Budget.But, it has announced plans to raise £40bn through tax rises and squeezes to departmental spending – leading to plenty of speculation over just how the Treasury intend to do that without austerity.