Douglas Carswell's Blog

What deficit reduction?

The rhetoric is all about tough action to restore sanity to our public finances.  The maths suggests a different story.

Far from cutting public borrowing, in February the public sector borrowed £11.8 Billion - the greatest amount the British state has borrowed in any February ever.  If that was not bad enough, it was almost twice as much as the £6.9 Billion it was supposed to be.

Put another way, this time last year, total net debt was 50.8% of GDP.  It is now 58%.

Ooops.

Perhaps no government can really curb its appetite for our money so long as the only restraint on public spending is the government, almost regardless as to who sits in the Treasury?

Far from "radical", it looks increasingly like this government is doing what almost every post-war government has done in this situation - tax and inflate away the problem.  With hideous consequences for the rest of us - and for growth.  

All that talk of a "star chamber" to rein in departmental spending looks like it was mere talk.  The only way to control the amount of money government spends is to make departments answer directly to the Commons for their annual budgets. 

Giving Commons select committees the power to veto departmental and quango spend is the best way of restoring sanity to public spending.

Back to all posts