Cabinet Meeting to Discuss Spending Cuts

The BBC has the story here.

So, in less than a week we've gone from keeping spending with no cuts, to reductions in spending and cuts. Can you really trust this government?

I do have to ask what exactly has triggered this about-face? Have the financial institutions been sabre-rattling in private? Have the government been tipped off that they face another financial meltdown? Either way, it looks like the message has been received. I just wonder if the government will ever come clean and reveal the truth behind the u-turn.

Anyway, on the bright side, lets hope we see an end to the hated ID card scheme, and all the costly I.T. projects, lets hope we see quangos and faux-charities lose funds, lets hope we cut back on overseas aid (like to India, which has a space programme when we can't afford one FFS!), lets hope they stop spending money on global warming until the science is proven and we can get measurable benefits. Those are the blanket cuts we need right now.

However, we need to go much further and start stripping out layers of public service. Lets reduce targets on public services, so we can reduce the number of admin staff that service the collection and publication of targets. After all, they have no front-line value). Lets start taking tiers of middle-management out of public services. Thats what happened in the private sector in the 1990s: organisations found that their middle-management was bloated, so they stripped out certain levels. It meant more people reporting to one person, but that just means they have to work more efficiently.

The country NEEDS these cuts. We can't go on as we are and the Unions need to recognise that. Either they negotiate a less painful solution which preserves front-line jobs, or the next government will have to take tough action which will be painful for the country as a whole.