A few weeks ago, Prime Minister Theresa May made big claims that the age of austerity would soon be over.

Yet in chancellor Philip Hammond’s recent budget, he confirmed that this will not be the case.

The best Philip Hammond could offer was a vague promise that austerity was “finally coming to an end”. The truth is that billions of pounds worth of cuts previously announced are yet to come.

Mr Hammond talked of an “extra” £650 billion for social care, but local councils, which fund social care, still face cuts of £1.3 billion over the next year.

The funding crisis faced by local authorities can only get worse.

Mr Hammond talked of a one off payment of £400 million payment for schools to help pay for “little extras” ­— what an insult!

The truth is that this £400 million only equates to around £10,000 per primary school and £50,000 per secondary school at a time when schools are suffering from a £2 billion shortfall with thousands of teachers and support workers losing their jobs.

Mr Hammond talked of an extra £20 billion for the NHS by 2023, yet they continue to demand that the NHS makes £22 billion in “efficiency savings” by 2020/21. The truth is that austerity is far from over, austerity continues to be a political choice of the current Conservative government.

I don’t believe that austerity will end until the current government is finally removed from office.

Joan Pritchard-Jones

Horwich