Billions of pounds worth of cuts to public spending are expected to be announced by the Conservative government on 17 November in what will be seen as a new period of austerity.
In 2010, the Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government embarked on a programme of deep spending cuts and tax increases.
It was aimed at reducing the country’s massive deficit – where it was spending much more money than it was raising in taxes – after it bailed out banks during the 2008 financial crisis.
As a result, many departments still have less spending power now than they had before 2010.
The government’s priorities meant that health, pensions and, until recently, overseas aid had more money, while spending on defence, education and public order fell.