Emergency Budget

Many year ago I visited South America a few times. In those days, all these countries were military dictatorships. None was all that good. They all had galloping inflation and the man in charge changed quite frequently as power moved from army to navy to air force - and back again. One thing they all these countries had in common was the demand that all visitors and locals arriving in their countries should fill in a baggage declaration. This was a form handed out to all passengers as an aeroplane approached the airport. Everyone gave their names and origins and destination in the country concerned and were asked to declare the contents of their baggage. Everybody wrote "papers, personal effects and clothing" - or words to that effect. Generally it was true. On arrival we would pass through customs, hand in the forms and a chalk cross would be scribed on our bags. Sometimes they asked that the bags be opened. What happened to all the forms, I asked, my colleagues in the various countries. I was told that they were all filed away in office blocks somewhere. What happened after that, I asked again? Nothing was the answer in 99.99999% of cases. The whole thing was a pointless bureaucratic exercise that kept people employed. They may not have earned much but they had jobs

I feel we have lots of similar pointless bureaucracies in the UK. Here the exercise is filling in forms and giving government employees "targets". Filling in the forms checks to see if the targets are being met. The priority becomes the filling in of the forms to prove to central government that the targets are being achieved. The work is improved by collections of quangoes that examine and advise and report. In many cases the total disappearance of these quangoes would not make any difference. Our new coalition government brought out its emergency budget yesterday and it set out some pretty dramatic cuts to expenditure, There are many in the country and in teh Labour opposition that oppose the cuts on the basis that these will depress the economy. This will not do. We have debts so bad that we will pay £44 billion this year in interest payments. That is waste, pure and simple. Money down the drain. And even with the cuts the debt will not fall. All that the programme will achieve - even if all goes well - will be to cause the debt to rise more slowly. By 2015, we will be paying over £60 billion in interest payments and we will then owe over £1 trillion. To let thing carry on is a recipe for national ruin. I disagree with the government in their decision to ring fence certain departments - in particular the NHS. The NHS accounts for 20% of government expenditure, wastes lots of money and is swamped in bureaucracy. However, when anybody talks about cuts the unions come out with claims that CUTS will mean fewer doctors and nurses. Never will they suggest that cuts will mean fewer bureaucrats. They are probably right to avoid such a suggestion because the NHS would work perfectly without doctors, nurses and patients.

The government will have to cut spending in some departments by 25%. The trouble is, that in some cases it will not be enough. We need to tackle the matter of benefits and tax avoidance and evasion. These together could save us tens of billions of pounds. Why are 8 million people economically inactive - ie not working, not looking for a job, sick, disabled, etc.?

All of us will lose something via this budget. I hope it works. I hope that the coalition holds together and that the two parties will benefit in the long run

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