This does not answer the question as to ‘why there was a perceived need to introduce these measures’ , only that they were introduced’, and further, ‘ Political opinion’ , is not necessarily fact!
So,
Q. Following the General Election of 2010, why did the incoming Government introduce Austerity?
A. Because the outgoing Government had made such a mess of the economy ( opinion ) that ‘There was no money left’ ( fact )
Q.. What was the published policy of the outgoing Government , had it won the election – Austerity ( fact ) of course it was , and it was this Labour Government which introduced the first austerity measures in late 2008 (fact )
Labour Chancellor Alastair Darling predicted that “two parliaments of pain” would be necessary to address the UK’s budget deficit. ( only his , informed, opinion, but a fact that he said it )
The Institute for Fiscal Studies said that Labour’s plans implied a cumulative decline of 11.9% in public spending over four years. ( in their opinion )
This would reduce public expenditure by a total of £46 billion in inflation-adjusted terms, taking it from over 27% of the economy to below 21%, back to its level in the late-1990s. ( opinion )
Importantly, the IFS also said that there appeared to be only a modest difference between the plans put forward by the two main political parties ( in their opinion )
It is fact however, that the Tory / LibDem Coalition Government introduced Austerity measures , to offset the inherited declining economy.
We all agree , I suspect , that we have different opinions on which political party to lay the blame for the consequences of austerity, but the facts do not always support political opinion!