Where the money could go
Peter Hoskin 12:16pm
The Telegraph's Iain Martin makes the key observation over the two outrageous government waste stories (here and here) in the papers today:
"This is not simply a bureaucratic failure, it is a moral failure too: taking high taxes from a public feeling the pinch and then throwing it away when it could have been put to work by individuals to pay their bills and care for their family or rebuild their savings."The downturn - and the human misery it catalyses - makes wholesale government waste all the more disgraceful. From a political perspective, this strengthens the Tories' core economic message - although there's still a sense that the Cameroons could do more to flesh out their approach for helping those individuals worst hit by the recession.
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C Powell
December 16th, 2008 1:59pm Report this commentContrast with the way the Government seeks to claw back Tax Credits overpayments even when these have been caused by its own errors and will cause hardship to some of the poorest in society.
If the Tories really wanted to help individuals they would be saying that the £12.5 billion wasted on the VAT cut should have been spent on raising the personal allowance thus (a) putting money back directly in people's pockets; and (b) helping those who are worse off - including pensioners. Or they could have done something for savers.
Clare
December 16th, 2008 3:35pm Report this commentLabour do not regard it as "our" money - it's all to be at their disposal because they know how to spend it properly, don't you know.
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