UK Spending Cuts: The Fun Fest Begins

I am beginning to gain some little respect for Alistair ‘The badger’ Darling, having grown a pair and both stuck as Chancellor and then forced Gordon Brown to partially roll back the Scorched Earth policy, he is now in the news again.

Today he is asking cabinet ministers for help in identifying spending cuts. Well, this should be fun. i seem to remember a labour cabinet minister picketing the NHS a few years ago when cuts were forced on her department. I don’t think the current jelly-like formations that are excuses for Ministers are going to give very much.

Not only that, but it is hard decisions that have to be made. Aligning public sector pension provision with that of the private sector would make a huge dent in the structural deficit. As would giving up much defence spending and our habit of constantly staying at war under Labour Governments. A swift trip into privatising the BBC would raise a few billion too and lower taxes.

All these things are near impossible for a Government, which is why Vince Cable says them all the time; nice sticks to beat Ministers with who don’t have the ability or authority to enact any serious change.

We have many years of this discussion to come, I guess in no time it will turn from fun fest to bore fest.

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