A summary of the way it’s going!
First a major comment on the situation from Damian Reece.
Then the short quotes --- This lot show the unions in total denial. Mr Woodley, in particular, with his ‘Cuts? Perhaps, but not yet’ has no grasp of the fact that if there are no cuts things will go on getting worse ever more rapidly and that the sooner the cuts start the less severe they will have to be . The man thinks he is defending his members but he is, in fact, preaching their ruin.
Vinbce Cable has made specific proposals and Brown is speaking to the TUC today. I will deal with both separately
Christina
TELEGRAPH 15.9.09
Time to face the facts now on spending
By Damian Reece, Group Head of Business
As speeches go Lord Mandelson's on Monday couldn't have been in greater contrast. From credible to incredible.
He asked us to recall New Labour's 1997 manifesto when considering the Government's response to the current public spending crisis.
That document describes an approach to spending based on being "wise spenders, not big spenders". This, said the Business Secretary, remains a core New Labour principle.
That may be so, but is it a principle shared by old Labour which is enjoying a revival at this week's TUC conference? Is the Labour party of Lord Mandelson's "wise spenders, not big spenders" the same as Brendan Barber's who saidon Monday that we needed to be "very clear" how to cut our national debt. "Tax increases are inevitable", he said, meaning tax increases for the middle classes are inevitable.
Not that I'm suggesting Lord Mandelson's comments reflect a new found reasonableness and honesty about public spending.
How can a Cabinet minister be taken seriously who claims Labour is the party of "wise spenders, not big spenders" when the Government will overspend by at least £175bn this year, equal to 12pc of the nation's economic output, and do the same again next year leaving Britain with the biggest deficit of any member of the G20?
Don't be fooled by the notion that this deficit is part of a sudden spending splurge to cleverly combat recession. We entered this downturn with one of the biggest deficits in Europe, despite those 64 quarters of consecutive growth that Gordon Brown used to be so keen to remind us of every Budget day. We went into the last downturn in the early 1990s running a surplus of 2pc, but still ended up mired in negative equity and unemployment.
The recession has simply forced our already profligate Government to feed its borrowing habit even more. When you consider the quality of services we're getting for such gargantuan expenditure, not to mention a whole generation of lifestyle layabouts who earn more from working the system rather than working at a job, not even a blind Brendan Barber could agree that Labour has been either wise or anything other than a very big spender indeed.
The public spending crisis will be solved by tax rises (many of which have already been announced) and spending cuts, plus a promise to spend what is left far more efficiently in future.
The electorate are no fools, they know what's coming and want Parliament to simply be honest and get on with it, although they'll have to wait until after the next general election for any action. Only by facing up to the facts now will the next Government be able to start building a new economic vision for the future.
THOSE CUTS - WHO’S SAYING WHAT? 14-15.9.09
Via Politics Home
Ken Clarke MP, Shadow Business Secretary
• Channel 4 News
Clarke: Tories "not salivating" over public spending cuts
Mr Clarke maintained that the Tories were not “salivating” over public spending cuts, and insisted that paying down the deficit in the public finances as soon as possible was an economic necessity.
In an implicit response to Lord Mandelson, who said that Conservatives were “foaming at the mouth” about the prospect of cutting public spending, Mr Clarke said:
“I’m not salivating over [spending cuts]. I’ve never met a politician who enjoys cutting public spending budgets, it's much more fun for an elected politician to go the other way around and increase spending.”
He denied that Conservatives would start cutting regardless of the state of the economic recovery, saying: “We’ve always said that you obviously have to have regard to the state of recovery.”
But Mr Clarke insisted that the amount of debt was “unsustainable”.
"The sooner you start tackling the problem of debt, that on any view is unsustainable, and is going to be a brake on the growth of the real economy, the sooner you start getting a stronger recovery", he said.
Brendan Barber, TUC General Secretary
• Sky News
Brown "doesn't have to make cuts" says TUC chief
Mr Barber said that Gordon Brown "doesn't have to make cuts" to reduce the budget deficit, and said that the closure of tax loopholes was a better strategy for reducing borrowing.
"He doesn't have to make cuts and he doesn't have to deal with the deficit at this stage," he said.
He added: "There are other ways of reducing the deficit".
He said that this should be done by closing tax loopholes that enable high income groups to pay low rates of tax.
"I don't want higher taxes for low paid and middle income people at all, but I don't want some of the loopholes that some of the wealthiest benefit from," he said.
Rather than cuts, he said that the Prime Minister's focus shoud be on "trying to ensure that we get a real recovery taking place"
"Most serious economic commentators take that view this is not the time to be talking about cuts," he said.
George Osborne MP, Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer
• Sky News
Osborne: Brown "capitulating and agreeing with us" on cuts
Mr Osborne said that reports that Gordon Brown is to admit the need for cuts in public spending showed the Prime Minister was "capitulating and agreeing with us".
"Let's remember for months after months I've come into this studio and had a good vigorous debate about why we need to cut spending," he said.
"We have made the argument that the national debt is a huge problem, and this is the huge issue in the recovery - how do we get the debt under control and protect our front line services so we can get the economy growing again."
He added: "It's been a hard fought battle but I think today after months of fighting Gordon Brown's about to give in."
Tony Woodley, Joint general secretary of Unite
• BBC News
Tony Woodley: PM "spot on" - cut but not yet
•
Mr Woodley said that Gordon Brown was "spot on" in insisting there was a need for public spending cuts but not yet. He lambasted the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats for suggesting cuts to public sector workers and pensions calling it "absolutely disgraceful behaviour".
"There will be cuts but the important thing for me is that we don't follow the Tory line of 'cut now'... let's continue to spend our way out of recession", he said, instead of "putting people on the dole".
"Why do you want to throw people onto the dole, worsening the recession? It doesn't make sense to me and I think Mr Brown has it absolutely spot on."
Speaking of the Conservatives, Mr Woodley said: "Leopards never change their spots... they'll cut and, by the way, so will the Liberal Democrats"
He accused both of "absolutely disgraceful behaviour" by suggesting cuts to public sector workers and pensions and said they were "looking to victimise the victims of the recession".
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