That "splurge" was done by Margaret Thatcher's government in the 80s - which basically used the massive oil revenues to support the conversion of the UK from a dysfunctional socialistic state dominated by relations between large (often nationalized) industries and what was essentially an economy dominated by free enterprise with socialist support services.
Although I hated her in the 80s I have to admit that Thatcher, along with Reagan, actually got quite a lot right.
I'm not sure that there is much correlation between the two - the really bad years for inflation were '73 to '83 and oil revenues didn't really take off until '82 or so:
Although I hated her in the 80s I have to admit that Thatcher, along with Reagan, actually got quite a lot right.