Cost of Government Crisis

 

Having worked hard during my life and made provision for an independent retirement, I feel sure Andy Burnham believes I belong to the hapless cohort with the “broadest shoulders.” I am, therefore, bracing myself for “paying that little bit extra” to ensure the provision of services and security which I had, hitherto, expected my contributions to cover.

It is speculated that the Budget will shy away from discussion the disagreeable subject of how stuff is to be paid for and concentrate on the much more politically advantageous subject of what’s in it for me.  Well, not me, as I explained above but you know who anyway.  We shall probably hear lots of warm words about pathways and roadmaps to sunlit uplands meantime financed by cunning changes to rules and accounting procedures.

Beneath the glossy surface, we could be forgiven for feeling a few pangs of anxiety.  With civil unrest, particularly in France, out of control national budgets, and ineffective political leadership, it would only take one of the dominos to tip to set off a devastating chain reaction in the Eurozone. We should not kid ourselves that our Brexit status would give us any special treatment or protection – we are in the giant debt Ponzi scheme up to our necks.

There are a few honourable voices that sense the danger we face and the measures necessary to recover stability.  You can read what these people have to say in magazines like the Spectator, hear what they have to say on news media like GB News, or hear them disparagingly name-checked on BBC programmes like Have I Got News for You.  Most of all, however, you will hear from the Government that these dreadful people are preaching “austerity,” – a shorthand for Thatcherism and a complete anathema to all fair-minded and caring people.

But let us get one thing clear as we lurch further into the cost of Government crisis: austerity is not a political policy chosen by governments or oppositions: austerity is a regime, unmistakably, imposed by creditors.  If you want to avoid austerity, the remedy is simple – don’t give your creditors cause to worry that they will not get their money back.