Spending cuts: will you take a stand?

A national newspaper is reporting on the impact of cuts to the police budget in one of our larger cities, and a few weeks ago there was a letter in my local newspaper which inveighed against cuts to the armed forces budget.

For many years now - in fact for many decades - the British people have voted in their masses for politicians who had no intention of reining in public spending.  Government ministers would talk about being prudent, but it was never more than wishful thinking.

When was the last time that any government in this country reduced public spending in absolute terms?

When was the last time that any government in this country reduced public spending as a percentage of national income?

We now have a government which appears to be intent on making at least a half-hearted attempt to be prudent with the national finances, and thus we see the benefits cap and the sanctions.  We are also seeing cuts to police budgets, legal aid, and the armed forces budget.  For some reason though there has been no reduction in the overseas aid budget.  In fact that budget has increased.

At the general election next year, we have a choice.  We can give David Cameron a second term as Prime Minister, and suffer more cuts that will leave us worse off; or we can give Ed Miliband a chance.  Of course there is no chance that he would rein in public spending, and I would not be surprised if he plunged Britain into a recession at an early point.

If you don't believe me, consider what his good friend the President of France is up to.

Miliband and Cameron are not our only options however, but time is running out.  Why don't you find a political party with policies which make sense, and donate it some money?  Or even join it?

Of course your donation on its own will make little difference, but if enough people around the country donated some of their money and maybe also some of their time to a political party, then it could easily mount a serious challenge to the two main parties at the next general election.

The ball is in your court.

Related previous posts include:
How the ConDems waste your money
Austerity versus democracy