Douglas Carswell's Blog

Cuts? Up to a point ....

According to Jeff Randall in the Telegraph, “There is no evidence of cutting back. Total government outlay is set to go up this year, next year and every year thereafter to 2014-15.”

“According to estimates from the Office for Budget Responsibility, the figures will be £696 billion in 2010-11 (up from £669 billion in 2009-10), then £699 billion, £711 billion, £722 billion and £737 billion”.

If government spending is going to increase by £68 billion over five years, how come we cannot afford tax cuts? 

Bigging up talk of spending cuts, without actually cutting total government spending, seems to have squeezed that idea off the agenda. Convenient if you earn your living inside the Treasury, but not if you don’t.       

Allowing people to keep more of their own money would provide a fiscal stimulus. Certainly it would be a great deal cheaper form of stimulus than quantative easing. Who knows, allowing wealth creators to keep more of their wealth might even encourage them to produce more of the stuff.

Lower tax, faster economic growth ....  It’s a thought, eh?     

Perhaps the fundamental problem is not this year’s deficit or next, but the unending conceit of politicians who think that somehow they are better at spending our money than we are – and more virtuous for doing so.

I wonder how many of those who receive a letter from HMRC next week demanding extra PAYE will agree?

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