Silk Cut

I find it interesting how the focus from the two main political parties (sorry Lib Dems) has shifted the closer we get to the election. Labour's change of line from 'we're not going to cut. ever' to 'alright, let's all be grown-ups, we know we need to cut something' has largely been attributed to Darling (and in turn, the Guardian's slightly embarassing crush on Darling can be attributed to this).

And, after all, it's the right line. Things do need to change and the state can not continue to fund things in the way it did when the bubble was, well, bubbling.

Unfortunately now it has turned into who can cut more and faster. Which suggests that the Lib Dems might start chiming in soon with something along the lines of 'it's not about the size of your cut, it's what you do with your cuts'.

And what people say they won't cut is revealing. Everyone says that they won't cut NHS funding (incidentally, I am beginning to wonder whether New Labour's greatest success has been to get the Conservatives to love the NHS. We'll see if I'm right on that one very soon). Nor do people want to cut 'frontline policing' (obviously the backroom stuff is just a big fat waste of time - why would the police need records anyway?).

We all know that there are votes to be won and lost on health and policing.

As a brief aside, it's interesting how nobody seems to have problems cutting local government, because that's only children's services, roads, care for the elderly, recycling etc. There are votes in those, but the best thing about cutting local government funding is that central government doesn't get the blame when services go down the shitter. No, that would be your locally elected council (who'd better not dare put up my council tax...).

It's sort of central government's Keyser Soze moment. Although it's not actually as impressive as all that.

But when you fence off two big areas like health and policing, something else has to take the strain. And inevitably a lot of people will rely on it.

So, yeah, cuts. It's what it's all about.

Incidentally, lest anyone think that I'm just waffling on about an issue without an opinion, I subscribe to the Double T's view. If you freeze everything (including health) at 2010/11 levels until 2014/15 you can halve Britain's deficit by that time.

Simple solution, but one fraught with pain. And generally unpopular with unions and the public sector at large. Still, I work in the public sector and I think it makes sense. Who's with me?