A dire and sickening consequence of the economic crisis has been the quick emergence of a supposed political consensus that public spending cuts are required to bridge the UK budget deficit.
The Economist of 10 September reported that back in July the IMF said: “Building a broad public consensus on the need for sizeable fiscal adjustment will be essential in meeting fiscal challenges.” http://www.economist.com/world/britain/displaystory.cfm?story_id=14424978
A recent Populis poll recorded that 81% of people questioned accepted that ‘significant cuts’ are inevitable whoever wins the election. Now we are embroiled in a sequence of political opportunism where one politician after another seeks advantage by making grandiose plans to freeze pay, attack public sector pensions, abolish or cut essential services and in some cases making populist gestures such as cuttingthe pay of MP’s.
The plans by Ed Balls to cut £2bn from schools spending by applying bizarre economies of scale to schools management is a classic example of him trying to square the circle of Brown’s TUC speech formula –that cuts will happen but not to front line services. http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/index.php/news/britain/Labour-s-hatchet-hovers-over-schools
There’s no such subtlety on the part of ex-Labour turncoat Vince Cable with his package of austerity measures rightly criticised by the TUC(although Congress House is rather flattering about this sound-bite phoney’s economic wisdom): http://www.touchstoneblog.org.uk/2009/09/vince-cables-cuts/
The voice of UNISON and all other public service unions must be heard in this debate by holding politicians to account, turning round public opinion and building broad public opposition to cuts in services fromwhatever source. http://www.unison.org.uk/million/
