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I don't really get why you seem to (and apologies if I've misunderstood) think centrism implies accepting and not fixing the issues caused by austerity.
I think austerity - which I'd broadly use to mean a pro-cyclical tightening of public expenditure - is a right wing and ideological policy. It isn't supported by evidence (which suggests that counter-cyclical spending policies are better) so it's hard to see how it can be a centrist (i.e. compromise) position...
andyfallsoff-
I'm not really saying that centrism wouldn't seek to address austerity, but perhaps more that by virtue of a centrist party's necessary political spread - i.e. it sits in the middle and soaks up positions both further left and further right - that it probably wouldn't have the mandate to change all that much. For example, those on the right of its group might be expected to resist any attempts to reverse the dismantling of the state during the coalition years. My sense is that the country needs a more dramatic correction than a centrist party could be expected to achieve. That said, I do think a centrist party would be better than what we have at the moment, but I don't believe it would be the long-term solution that we really need. I appreciate that might all sound a bit contradictory, and maybe confusing, and if so, that probably just reflects my state of mind in the current chaotic political environment :)
boristrump
Yes, I think I'd agree with all of the above. I don't doubt that a centrist party would be successful - and far better than anything that we have currently - but I do think that such a party would fail to solve the deeper problems that have come into public recognition in more recent times. As @miro_o says that includes things like austerity. Similarly, there appears to be greater support for some degree of nationalisation (which would most likely not have been a 'centrist' policy in previous times). Based on the assumption that a 'centrist' party might not prioritise tackling those kinds of issues, then I think it might only be a short-term fix (i.e. possibly get us out of the current crisis, but possibly not have the type of support required to solve that much more...)