Tag Archives: balancing the books

Caron Lindsay

Tories seem to be shredding their claim to economic competence with each new spending commitment

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 11th April 2015 - 1:41 pm

The Tories have gone on about economic responsibility and controlling spending for long enough. It’s bizarre, then, that their list of dubiously funded post-election spending commitments is getting longer by the day.

It’s not enough to say that the NHS will get the £8 billion it needs out of the proceeds of a stronger economy alone as Jeremy Hunt did this morning. That’s like making a commitment on a foundation of fresh air and marshmallow.

Asked how the Conservatives would fund the pledge, he said the economy had been turned around and pointed to investment in the service during the last Parliament, when the government guaranteed an above-inflation increase in funding.

He said: “If you want to be sceptical about the commitment, look at the track record.”

It’s not as if the global economy is in a particularly robust position to be able to rely on that.

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged , and | 17 Comments
Advert

Recent Comments

  • Tim Rogers
    Might finally wake SirEd out of his invisibility....
  • Jana
    Hi Tom, Do you think Burnham is preparing the ground for a snap election? Lots of little goodies delivered each day for a couple of weeks then claim he needs a...
  • Hywel
    Increasing the basic threshold by £1000 will make someone on £40,000pa £200 a year better off whilst doing nothing for someone on £12000 a year though. "...
  • Tony Vickers
    Not higher taxes but different taxes. We said in our 2015 manifesto we'd look at how (not whether) to introduce a Land Value Tax within a single Parliament. Co...
  • Peter Martin
    @ Daniel, You could have a point. Do you mean the government of the Federal Republic Of Germany? They certainly adopted the position of speaking for the ...