Politics

4 April 2009

Our poll shows that the public is way ahead of Cameron in seeing the need for cuts

For the last 15 years, a four-letter word has terrified and paralysed the Conservative leadership: cuts. When it has been deployed by Gordon Brown on the electoral battlefield, the Tories have had no defence. Even after they surrendered and signed up to Labour’s spending plans, Mr Brown still accused them of planning ‘deep and painful cuts’. It is, as it happens, a charge entirely without foundation. Even now, the only people openly saying that state spending is too high are a bunch of supposed oddballs: Norman Tebbit, John Redwood — and 72 per cent of the British public.

The last group has crept up almost entirely undetected upon Westminster — which is so often the last place to realise which direction the rest of the country has taken. An old orthodoxy still reigns in SW1: that it is cruel and heartless to want cuts, and that higher state spending is the non-negotiable priority of modern, compassionate Britain. Yet outside the Westminster village, the public is growing increasingly incensed about the way ministers are spending as if the party will never end — from the expenses claimed by Jacqui Smith to cover her husband’s cinematic tastes to the NHS supercomputer.

As no party formally proposes spending cuts, the issue tends not to be raised in opinion polls — so The Spectator decided to make its own inquiries. Snapshot surveys often give a deceptive answer to such questions, as people’s minds change in the course of an election campaign as they are subjected to the case for and against. So we commissioned PoliticsHome to use its new technique: so-called deliberative polling. This involved asking a carefully balanced group of 1,406 people various questions, then asking them to consider the arguments — then asking the question again.

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Rob Slack

April 3rd, 2009 3:21pm Report this comment

Why is it wrong to pass on debt to future generations? If the value of the assets we pass on (roads, schools, hospitals, human capital we paid for etc.) exceeds the value of the debt, we are leaving a surplus. Much of the carp about the debt burden we leave to our children is sentimental twaddle...political spin. We would better turn our minds to spending wisely; useful education, instead of Blair's tish about HE for the masses, would be a start. A ban on H&FE college courses for "nail technicians" (those people who charge £80.00 to stick guitar picks on women's fingers, fashion, snake oil healers and Chinese medicine (Middx. Uni.--5 years) would also be helpful.

johnc

April 4th, 2009 1:59am Report this comment

Yeah, screw the kids...

Michelle

April 4th, 2009 2:28am Report this comment

There are two types of insolvency: 1) if total liabilities are greater than assets, you're balance sheet insolvent; 2) if you can't pay off debts as they are due, you're cash flow insolvent. Even if the the nation has a net positive in assets (and would you trust the government's valuations?), she's still bankrupt if we can't pay the bills. That's the big worry.

BaiDaLong

April 4th, 2009 2:44am Report this comment

'This involved asking a carefully balanced group of 1,406 people various questions, then asking them to consider the arguments — then asking the question again.'

So who says we haven't learned anything from the EU. Isn't this how they do their referenda? Take Ireland, for example. Please.

Clive

April 10th, 2009 8:08am Report this comment

What the Conservatives fail to realise is that while cuts in Public SERVICES may be a sensitive issue, cutting WASTE in Public spending is not. There can be few outside the Political spectrum who would disagree with this and if carried out properly, the effective cuts in Public Sector spending would be hugely significant without ANY detriment to Public Services at all !

Rob Slack

April 10th, 2009 6:15pm Report this comment

jonhc said

"..screw the kids".

No John; if we screw ourselves badly we shall leave a bigger mess. If we leave debt we leave it to those who must pay and those to whom it will be paid...all people who will be alive in the next generation. It is only foreign debt that is a net burden. if we waste less we should leave less of that.