On his visit to Cardiff today, the deputy PM, Nick Clegg spoke about the cuts, urging people to keep them "in perspective". Whilst there are some economic grounds for cuts, he should be more honest about the "perspective" side of things. The government is expected to reduce public spending by around 25% over the next five years. This is not only going to cause huge economic pressures, we will have the largest employment upheaval since the war. Yes, the economy as a whole might cope, but we have to be honest, when put in perspective the cuts hard, very hard. We're going to have a very different kind of country in five years time.
Our public services, some of the very institutions that give our nation uniqueness in this ever more homogenous world, will lose their status. And with the inevitable increase in protests, violent crime, and disorder as people lose their jobs, should we really be cutting spending for the judiciary and the police? I think we need to keep increasing NHS funding, instead of just not cutting. NHS trusts have enormous (and rising) PFI debts to pay, and if we don't keep up the flow of money, patient care will be hit. The redevelopment of the JR site would have cost £170-180 million, but with PFI we will pay over £830 million. We are already seeing job losses in Oxford's front line services. Whilst we shouldn't make Clegg a scapegoat, he could have more humility when it comes to people losing their jobs, otherwise he could be next in the firing line, if the current opinion poll trend continues.
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