5th August, 2010
On Monday 7th June (see here) Prime Minister Cameron argued that his actions were necessary and unavoidable. We don’t like what we’re doing, but someone’s gotta clear up the mess. He said:
“We are not doing this because we want to. We are not driven by some theory or some ideology. We are doing this as a government because we have to, driven by the urgent truth…”
Yesterday, 4th August, the Prime Minister addressed a “PM Direct” event in Birmingham. He was asked by a local fire brigade worker:
“Will you give me a pledge today that when these austere times are over, and you have the money back in the bank or you’re balancing your books, that you will look at anything that is cut during this period and go back and get those fire engines back in the places they are needed to support the public?”
Mr Cameron did not give the pledge.
“The direct answer to your question – should we cut things now and go back later and try and restore them later? – I think we should be trying to avoid that approach.”
Surprise, surprise, Cameron doesn’t intend to restore public services when the deficit has been repaid.
He is not cutting public services because the money isn’t currently in the bank. He’s not clearing up a mess. He is not, as he claimed on 7th June, driven by an “urgent truth”. He is not doing it “because he has to”.
He is doing it because he wants to.
Because if everything was bought again, that may begin to increase the deficit and undo everything that’s being done? As time goes on, more and more of the GDP will be heading to pensions and health care, plus there will be £1.2tn of national debt (£3.8tn of liabilities according to the Indy). So how can a pledge to rebuy everything be met?