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The Tories are going back to tax cutting. Fair enough. It benefits the rich and they represent them. It reduces the electoral choice to maintaining services at a level appropriate to a civilised society, though a slightly shabby one. Or cut them. Preferably without saying cut what? Or how?
It won’t be easy. Mrs. T’s cuts were made possible because at a time of low growth she flogged off billions of public assets. Not much left to flog off now.
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The sky’s black with chickens coming home to roost because we left undone those things we ought to have done in the good times.
Higher interest rates because we didn’t widen the Bank of England remit to allow more inflation (say 4%) and to add growth and maximise employment.
Anger in local government because we didn’t add more tax bands to council tax to make it fairer, less regressive and less painful for our people.
A huge debt because of too many PFIs.
A shrunken production base because we kept the pound too high for too long.
A failure to invest because all the money was going into asset inflation.
Constitutional chaos because we never made the regions an offer they couldn’t refuse of powers like Scotland to run themselves.
Regulation of utilities to protect the consumer and hold prices down.
It’s an endless list. Because we assumed the good times would go on forever.
Even worse is the fact that we don’t seem to know what to do now it’s clear they won’t. |
