A deliberate dirty taste in the mouth?

[woolybanana]

As I was having a break from preparing the house for visitors, I happened upon this sorry list of items and it struck me that the organizations doing the cutting are deliberately pursuing a policy of maximum pain cuts so as to politicize the issue and preserve themselves. Simply cutting bureaucracy and bringing wages and expenses under control would pay for most of these projects.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/coalition-100-days-100-cuts-2052886.html

[Rose (& Greyman)]

I think two points are relevant here. Firstly none of this would be necessary if there was an ethos of value for money in public service organisations. In my view the previous lot were the worst offenders. The waste and profligacy I have seen from local government organisations beggars belief. New Labour encouraged the belief that amount of money spent = amount of benefit to taxpayers. What a load of tosh. The best outcome of this 'global' (i.e. not my fault) economic recession visited on the UK by Gordon is that finally public spending will be put to the sword.

The second point is that the coalition have clearly said that decisions about the cuts will be mainly made at a local level. If these cuts have been made it is very much down to local decisions. The fact is cuts need to be made. Schemes that were 'essential' six months ago can now be managed without. If local electors don't like the decisions then make that known at local level.

All I can say is don't blame the surgeon who removes your liver because you spent 13 years on the juice.

[Russethouse]

 Which bt of the word 'Emergency' don't these people understand ? From what I have read (if it's to be believed) unless George Osborne had set us down this path immediatley we could have lost our AAA rating, which may have meant instead of taxes going on Education and health care they would be spent on interest payments

 Some of the things on the list could be tackled by local fundraising - instead of 200 child carers getting up a petition for having the money re instated they might have put their energies into working out how they could fund it themselnes or  looking at if there was a viable alternate scheme - still what do I know? [Www]

[nomoss]

I'm quite sure that the vast majority of the projects listed will be reinstated when they become affordable. Many are in the "nice to have" category, and having grown up in the 40's and 50's I don't have a lot of sympathy for the idea that everything they want should be provided for everyone, whether affordable or not.

Watching TV news from UK, whatever cut is being discussed, without exception, from closing down a bus service to a government department, there is an endless procession of people pleading that it is a special case, together with heart-rending interviews with those whose life will be ruined.

My family's life was ruined in 1940, but we survived somehow.