Originally published @ 4:19 am, Tue 22nd Jun 2010
David Cameron said in March 2009 –
“We are not going to behave like flint faced turbo-charged accountants, slashing spending without regard to the social consequences.”
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David Miliband was on the Daily Politics yesterday (Monday) and whilst there was nothing that new policy wise, I did see a new approach in terms of tackling Andrew Neill's throw aside barbs.
Now this is not a complaint about Andrew Neill using a technique of assuming the position of greater knowledge by making a statement whilst moving the debate on (it's a free country and he's entitled), but rather a recognition that David Miliband checked him on this more than once.
Discussing the notion of a mansion tax, which is not that great an idea, Andrew Neill said this only raises £2,000 million which is regarded as an accountancy error (or some such) in the Treasury.
He has a point. I once challenged an economist and pundit to say what the margin of error was on national finance projections, and he said plus or minus £13,000 million.
But no national politician worth the name can therefore set out to assume that estimates will fall the desired way by £13,000 million and has to budget to balance. Indeed, that the borrowing is £12,000 million better for this year than projected in March seems to have been a sign of Alistair Darling and the Treaury being cautious about economic projections rather than hoping for a miscalculation.
And an annual £2,000 million contribution to public finances is significant. A mansion tax would fall on those most able to pay, but struggles I think by being based on current property valuations which is not officially measured and can go up as well as down.
Meanwhile, the budget was debated on the East Midlands section of the BBC's Politics Show, where the Conservative leader of Derby City Council suggested that the latest wave of extra cuts could be met without an impact to front line services. Some claim, and I suspect he will regret making it.
As we prepare to hear the Con/Dem's first national budget, remember what David Cameron said about fiscal responsibility with a social consequence only in March.
“We are not going to behave like flint faced turbo-charged accountants, slashing spending without regard to the social consequences.”
David Cameron: Fiscal Responsibility with a Social Conscience
Rt Hon David Cameron, Thursday, March 19 2009
Cuts are being made without an assessment of their social consequences (not sure what flint faced means but it kinda invokes David Laws and David Cameron to me); they are making them quickly (which kinda suggests turbo-charged to me).
“The real divide that matters when economic times are tough is between the efficient and the inefficient. Whether in the private sector or the public sector, inefficiency is now unaffordable.”
Cameron said it was inefficiency that matters but he’s done nothing to make sure it’s the focus.
“The poorest in our society should not pay an unfair price for mistakes made by some of the richest. Paying down our debt must not mean pushing down the poor.”
But it absolutely does. Cos the cuts in local government are targeted on those areas that are the poorest and a Local Government Minister has said that’s right. (“Those in greatest need ultimately bear the burden of paying off the debt which this country has been left”)
Finally, if the Con/Dems say Labour would have been making savings too, well yes, the answer is we were already, and we'd be grateful if they worked to our estimates (with now a £12,000 million headstart) and our timescale, and give the economy time to recover this year and next.
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