After the announcement of a further £2bn cuts today it seems as though we can wave goodbye to the pre-election "efficiency savings" policy championed by the Tories.
After Danny Alexander’s announcement of a further £2 billion of spending cuts today it seems as though we can well and truly wave goodbye to the “efficiency savings” policy championed by the Conservatives during their election campaign.
The theory that £12 billion in “efficiency savings” could be found in 2010/11 was forcibly challenged by opponents from the moment it was proffered by George Osborne in the run-up to the election. The Conservative efficiency savings model was deemed deceptive by their opponents; conceivable only with the aid of “magic”. Tory spells seemingly forgotten or mis-uttered; cuts on frontline services, rather than efficiencies, have unsurprisingly begun to appear.
George Osborne’s £6 billion of spending cuts just three weeks ago signalled the first assault on frontline areas such as health and education. Danny Alexander’s list of cuts today included the cancellation of projects such as the North Tees and Hartlepool hospital and suspension of the £73 million Health Research Support Initiative. Moves to this effect seem hardly like “cutting waste”, as George Osborne’s pre-election mantra boldly claimed.
As well as combating general national debt, the Conservative strategy of cutting back on wasteful government spending intended to offset Labour’s increase in national insurance. Osborne had called the raise the “economics of the madhouse“.
However, if we cast our minds back to 2008 and consider the Prime Minister’s own assessment of a government “efficiency drive”, it appears that the Conservatives have had a few mental jolts of their own. Cameron cited an episode of Yes Minister, in which one such “efficiency drive” is deployed as a smokescreen for action that is ultimately more “difficult”, more painful.
“[It’s] one of the oldest tricks in the book”, Cameron said at the time. Such a trick, apparently, that with the reality of government kicking in, he can’t find the efficiencies after all.
14 Responses to “R.I.P – Conservative “efficiency savings””
Duncan Stott
RT @leftfootfwd: R.I.P – Conservative "efficiency savings" http://bit.ly/dxLxjc
Jacquie Martin
Actually, one of the oldest tricks in the book is to say you’re going to do one thing in opposition, then do another when you’re in power.
These cuts are idealogically driven: Conservative idealogy that is. So what happened to the restraining hand of the LibDems? Oh, I remember, they jettisoned their idealogy.
I believe the Con-LibDem party – my preferred term for them – will just keep cutting and cutting in some vain belief that ‘having it hard’ will magically switch on a lightbulb in heads all over the UK.
After which, everyone will come out of their cocoons, start multi-million pound businesses (and work out all the dodges that come with this status) and no-body will be poor, unequal, disabled, disadvantaged, sick or just plain not in control of their lives.
Forgive me, I just want to write a brilliant sitcom.
Mr. Sensible
Couldn’t agree with you more, Jacquie.
Actually, I think ‘Con Dem Nation’ would be better; I don’t know which Newspaper came up with that, but whichever one it was it has more than a slight ring to it.
Jacquie, do you agree with me that for a government that says it is keen to cut waste to avoid the so called ‘jobs tax’ it seems to be creating a lot of its own? Not least the Married Couples Tax Allowance and the 2000 or whatever it is new accademies.
And you’re entirely right on the Lib Dems; Alexander was probably 1 of those who argued against Osborne before the election.
And, as I have said before the deficit is not as bad as we first thought, and these cuts could actually send us back in to recession.
#
Isn’t this a case of the Government, in George Osborne’s own words, ‘Fixing the Finances to Fit the Budget?’
R.I.P – Conservative “efficiency savings” « The best Labour blogs
[…] More… […]
mike
Forge Master – Sheffield
Time to leaflet/canvss Mr Cleggs constituency