Rachel Reeves entered office with a morose(阴郁的，闷闷不乐的) message. “If we cannot afford it, we cannot do it,” said the new chancellor in July 2024, cancelling an array of transport projects and scrapping winter-fuel payments for the elderly for good measure(另外，额外). On May 21st, announcing £300m-worth ($403m) of VAT cuts on a host of theme parks and children’s meals, she struck a very different tone. “Prices have been pushed up,” wrote Ms Reeves in the Daily Mirror, “and when that happens, it is life’s little treats that can fall by the wayside(半途而废，被搁置), such as a meal out, a family holiday or a day trip making memories with your kids.”
雷切尔·里夫斯上台时态度阴郁。“如果我们承担不起，就不能做，”这位新任财政大臣在2024年7月说，取消了一系列交通项目，并额外取消了老年人的冬季燃料补贴。5月21日，她宣布对一系列主题公园和儿童餐减免价值3亿英镑（4.03亿美元）的增值税，语气截然不同。“物价被推高了，”里夫斯在《每日镜报》上写道，“当这种情况发生时，生活中的小确幸就会半途而废，比如外出就餐、家庭度假或带孩子去一日游创造回忆。”
Parliamentarians(议员们) queued(排队) to applaud the “Great British Summer Savings”. Why didn’t the chancellor do this sooner? asked a Liberal Democrat. A Labour MP invited Ms Reeves to try out the Avikiti, a new £9m gyro-swing ride in Blackpool, a seaside resort in north-west England. Ms Reeves was the latest politician to surrender to(向……屈服) the most powerful force in British politics: the Treat.
议员们排队为“大不列颠夏日储蓄”欢呼。一位自由民主党议员问道：财政大臣为什么不早点这样做？一位工党议员邀请里夫斯去试试Avikiti，这是位于英格兰西北海滨度假胜地布莱克浦的一个价值900万英镑的新型旋转秋千。里夫斯是向英国政治中最强大的力量——小确幸——屈服的最新一位政客。
The rise of the Treat began under the Conservatives. During the shocks of the 2020s, the state paid people’s wages and then it paid their energy bills. In this period, it also did something smaller but more significant: it bought everyone lunch. Eat Out To Help Out(“外出就餐帮助”计划) offered discounts of 50% on meals to encourage people back into restaurants. Handing out cash(发放现金) is an everyday event for a state. But lunch? This was something new; this was a Treat.
小确幸的崛起始于保守党执政时期。在2020年代的冲击中，国家支付了人们的工资，然后又支付了他们的能源账单。在此期间，它还做了一件较小但更有意义的事：给每个人买了午餐。“外出就餐帮助”计划为餐食提供50%的折扣，鼓励人们回到餐馆。发放现金对一个国家来说是家常便饭。但午餐？这是新事物；这就是小确幸。
Bread and roses
面包与玫瑰