If May moves away from austerity then it is because of Corbyn’s message of hope

Fighting for her political life, Theresa May reportedly told her shrunken band of MPs that “austerity is over”. Deep spending cuts have blighted this country since the Tories took office in 2010. If May really has brought this hideously cruel and economically illiterate policy to an end, then we should credit Jeremy Corbyn and Labour’s general election campaign.

Austerity began as the Tories’ pet political project. Inhumane, grossly unfair and self-defeating, it brought misery to millions yet caused the national debt to spiral out of control. For the Tories it provided a convenient excuse to shrink the state and make those least well-off pay for the excesses of the financial crisis. As government departments shrank, so did police officer numbers. As did hospital budgets. SureStart centres disappeared and benefit payments either shrank or stopped altogether. Austerity has turned Britain into the country of food banks, in-work poverty and a skeletal public sector.

In starving the country of its basic needs, the Tories were also able to shape the debate about deservedness, societal worth and blame. The poorest and most vulnerable were forced into ever greater poverty whilst being labelled scroungers. Teachers and nurses were ordered to take the pain whilst those with the most enjoyed tax breaks. Immigrants were blamed for poverty-pay and stagnating living standards. The human cost of austerity was huge – tremendous in fact. It is not an exaggeration to say that the policy led lives to be lost.

That voters wanted to evaluate austerity at the general election seemed to take May by surprise. She appeared shocked that her continuing programme of cuts, perpetual pay freezes and 7p school breakfasts weren’t precisely what people were after.

Now, after suffering a crushing electoral blow, May appears to have realised that austerity may be due a rethink. She absolutely must now apologise to all those who have suffered because of her government’s ideologically-driven disaster. To every nurse forced to visit a foodbank, to every parent whose SureStart centre has closed; to all of us, frankly, who have suffered worse public services because of her misguided commitment to austerity.

Even if May can admit that austerity should be junked, no-one will believe she would had experienced a Damascene conversion to the politics of fairness, without the general election. If she has changed her mind it is all a huge credit to Labour’s campaign and, specifically, to Jeremy Corbyn. He put austerity front and centre; he put our case eloquently, calmly and persuasively, and connected with a number and breadth of people that his critics could never have imagined.

Most importantly, Corbyn altered the terms of the debate and shaped the territory on which the election was fought. That he encouraged so many to vote for a vision of hope and greater social justice, in the face of extreme media hostility, is a truly remarkable achievement.

The question now, of course, is of how Labour wins power; how we keep Kensington and Canterbury and win back Manfield and North East Derbyshire. And it’s a question we must answer sooner rather than later. But the very fact that we are talking about the serious possibility of a Labour government is testament to a truly inspirational and transformative Labour campaign.

Lucy Rigby is a class action lawyer and a former Labour councillor and parliamentary candidate.