UK budget: are massive cuts unavoidable?
The British Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, is due to make her Spring Statement on the economic situation tomorrow. She is expected to announce major cuts to social welfare budget to reduce the national debt. Commentators in the national press take differing views of the plan.
Language of necessity just political theatre
Rachel Reeves is letting the wealthy off the hook, complains The Guardian:
“The language is that of necessity. There is no money. The choices are hard, but unavoidable. So runs the script. The idea that painful cuts are inevitable is political theatre. ... No money for free school meals or youth clubs, ministers warn, yet billions pour into the pockets of bondholders, for the sake of 'stability'. ... The chancellor won't raise taxes on the wealthy, relax her fiscal rules or borrow more. So she claims that there is no alternative to cuts. But these are self-imposed constraints.”
Time up for waste
Massive cuts in the public sector and a clear austerity programme are absolutely crucial now, The Times counters:
“Fundamental questions must be asked about the role of the state. How many university degrees serve no useful purpose? Why has the bill for special educational needs doubled to £8 billion in ten years despite no evidence of a rise in learning disabilities? It is in areas like these, all part of the trillion-pound-plus public sector, that cuts must be found. ... The danger is that Ms Reeves falls into the trap of her predecessor George Osborne: talking up austerity but not doing it. Debt is costing the UK £100 billion in interest a year. Time is up for wasteful spending.”