"We are all in this together"..."I can't even afford a new suitcase"
I am no economist, but even I can see that people are going to suffer in the wake of this government’s emergency budget. Measures including, limiting housing benefits and cutting welfare payments were bought in with a mantra that “we are all in this together, and we all need to make sacrifices”. Does anyone else feel a little annoyed with these words coming out of old Georgy boy’s mouth. I am sure if George came across hard times, one of his Bullingdon Club mates would bail him out. We are not all equally in this together; some people are disproportionally suffering, while others are getting away with taking gesture cuts in their cabinet salaries.
It strikes me as economic madness to be cutting money that is going to those who are most likely to spend it. This will only increase the likelihood of the recession double dipping and having a seriously negative affect on people’s standards of living (obviously excluding George). Osborne claims he has thought of this by reducing Corporation Tax and Capital Gains Tax (to stimulate the business sector). With Cameron proudly going to the G8 claiming (to Obama) that other economic power houses (such as Germany) agree with him, you have to wonder who Cameron, Osborne and co believe will be doing the spending that our economic system is so reliant on. It is no good stimulating production if you do not have a market to sell to.
It appears that this budget will bite those who are vulnerable in our society in the short-term, and potentially damage our wider economy in the long-term. In the short-term, the pain is justified through the “we are all in it together” mantra. This is bull coming from the Etonian elite who currently hold power. In the long-term, if I turn out to be wrong (and people do just magically find money to spend), then we have to question how much suffering is justifiable for this government to continue to peddle its economic norm. In a 21st century Britain, we have to agree that certain standards of living are unacceptable for anyone and not let people drop into them.
It must be said, it is not George who will have to decide between his rent and his food bills this week.
Hynd's Blog 
I agree Steve – if we are smart we should invest money in things that we need to make the future more sustainable, like renewable energy – then we create jobs, with those employed spending the money and paying taxes (to repay the debt), and also create an economy less dependent on oil etc. It’s a win-win where the current budget is a lose-lose.
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also, interesting reading. David Milliband’s response http://www.leftfootforward.org/2010/06/david-miliband-talks-to-left-foot-forward/
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Agree basically, though this argument is weak: “It strikes me as economic madness to be cutting money that is going to those who are most likely to spend it.” Drunks, drug addicts, gamblers, serial bankrupts, and numerous other ne’er do wells are doubtless likely to spend any money given to them. But I’m not minded to shove money their way.
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@ Ralph Musgrave,
It should be noted though that the majority of those seeking housing benefits are Drunks, Drug Addicts or gamblers etc… They are just ordinary people who have fallen on hard times (for a massive variation of reasons). The point I was trying to make is that it is those who have less that spend the higher percentage of their income (ie if you get 45 quid a week on the doll, you are likely to pump 100% of that straight back into the economy, while if you earn 100 grand a year, you probably have other ideas about what to spend your money on (if you spend it all).
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Completely agree steve. It is one of those economic dillemas on which side you agree with. The tories fear that the UKs credit rating will be so damaged by the deficit that this is the main priority. However, we only finished paying off our debt from World War two about 4 years ago. The tories are making out that this debt is some sort of new horror that the country now faces.
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