Clegg downplays the cuts
Peter Hoskin 11:23am
A noteworthy directional shift from Nick Clegg in his speech this morning. Instead of priming the us for "savage cuts," as he once
did, the Deputy PM is now deemphasising the severity of what's to come:
To be fair, the basic message hadn't changed: cuts are "unavoidable," Clegg says, as we struggle to contain the deficit. But this new motif demonstrates just how keen the Lib Dem leader is to reassure his party about the government's intentions – and repel Labour's sorties in the process. Strangely enough, it also unites him with John Redwood in highlighting how spending will rise in cash terms, if not in real terms."Some of the hyperbole I have heard is just preposterous – this idea, that somehow, it is back to the 1930s. After the spending round, we are still going to be spending £700bn of public money – more than we are now."
As understandable as Clegg's caution is over all this, it could prove counterproductive. In his column this morning, Ben Brogan quotes one minister thus: "If we have had a collective failure, it is that we have underplayed the scale of the problem." Many feel that it would be better to prepare the public for the worst.
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Dubs.
September 9th, 2010 11:49am Report this commentMotive aside it is essential that this message gets out and is understood. There are no "savage cuts" proposed only an increase in public spending in cash terms and a ring fencing of the ruinous profligacy of the NHS. Only by comparison with the sort of reckless spending spree proposed by the Millibands is this fiscal rectitude. Good on Clegg - say it and say it loud. While he is telling the truth he might like to nail the lie that the poor are shouldering the burden of the deficit reduction disproportionately. They are not in reality shouldering one penny of the burden. They are merely being asked to take a little bit less out of the (empty) purse for the time being.
alexsandr
September 9th, 2010 1:18pm Report this commentClegg was with humphries on today this morning. Humphries really needs to shut the f**k up and let the interviewee speak. But despite Humphries, Chlegg managed to get his points across.
davidk
September 9th, 2010 1:19pm Report this commentHe can sell it whichever way he wants, but the cuts WILL be savage, and the pips in the Limp Dems WILL squeek.
oldtimer
September 9th, 2010 2:38pm Report this commentThe BBC and its various reporters and editors are determined to rub in the savage cuts message - either through ignorance or to cause mischief.
The "cuts" are only cuts to earlier grossly unrealistic projections of government spending. The actual cash spend is still going up. To you or me, in our day to day liife, this would not be called a "cut".
Some of this may result from muddled thinking about deficits and debts - much discussed here in the past. Mr Robinson, in his current peregrinations, let pass without comment the observation of one lady who complained that no one would think of repaying their mortgage in just four years. The fact is, no one is intending to repay the national debt in four years - they are only going to let it grow by a relatively small amount. It will still remain astronomically high at the end of this Parliament. He failed to pick her up on the comment. Sometimes I also wonder about the financial literacy of the Economics Editor as well.
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