In the UK back in 2010 whilst the recurring theme was that the then Labour Government had been responsible for the financial crash all<\/b>\u00a0the mainstream parties agreed that austerity was a necessary pre-condition for getting the economy straight.<\/p>\n
Looking back over the past five years, one of the things which is striking is how consistent that message has been. As we approach the 2015 General Election in May there is still a cross party consensus on the need for austerity. What has changed or where the points of difference between the main parties surfaces is on the scale and pace of the austerity measures.<\/p>\n
Why does this matter? And isn\u2019t it common sense that austerity is needed to \u2018fix\u2019 things ?<\/p>\n
My own view is that on two counts the common sense argument falls:<\/p>\n
Count One \u2013 we need to be clear about the causes of the Crash in 2007\/8 before we can start setting out the remedies.\u00a0What is interesting about the debate back in 2010 and now is that the consensus is clear: the crisis was not because we were spending too much on education or health or public services more generally, but the actions of the banking and finance sector. Through a range of decisions from sub-prime mortgages to the miss-selling of financial products or the manipulation of interest rates, the banking and finance sector wrecked the economy and the UK Government (along with other governments around the world) bailed out the banking sector. What the parties then and now have difficulty in explaining is how we got from there to here!<\/p>\n
Count Two \u2013 the consequence of the mainstream consensus is a package of cuts which will go for at least another four years and cuts now in social welfare, education and support to those agencies which work with the most vulnerable.<\/p>\n
And so on the issue of Fairness and Equality I have a difficulty with what is being proposed. Why does this matter ? From a policy point of view it matters a lot. The decisions which were made post 2010 and which will be made after 2015 will have a direct impact on the scale, quality and level of social and welfare provision as well as education and training available across the country.\u00a0These things do matter. They affect us regardless of our needs now because they are about the kind of society we want to live in. Throughout the next few weeks I will explore some of the issues further.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In the UK back in 2010 whilst the recurring theme was that the then Labour Government had been responsible for the financial crash all\u00a0the mainstream parties agreed that austerity was a necessary pre-condition for getting the economy straight. Looking back over the past five years, one of the things which is striking is how consistent […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":225,"featured_media":36,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32286],"tags":[32280,32283,32282,1670],"class_list":["post-33","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-election-2015","tag-austerity","tag-banking","tag-i4p","tag-public-policy"],"yoast_head":"\n