CentreRight make a darn good point about one of David Cameron’s phrases (though already not heard in a little while) and what should happen to it:
“Sharing the proceeds of standstill” doesn’t quite chime does it? But that’s where the economy had got to at the end of June, and now it’s probably in the first quarter of what will turn out to be a recession. Couple that to Eurozone holiday exchange rates, and the rising cost of more or less everything, and it must now, surely, be goodbye to what is probably the least recession-proof soundbite in the world?
Let’s go one further: since the logical continuation of ‘sharing the proceeds of growth’ is ‘sharing the costs of recession’, let’s come to terms with the fact that this was always a fair-weather policy which would have been thrown out at the first sign of economic trouble.
The underlying thinking behind it, though, is frugality; reducing the speed at which the public sector grows. This is an admirable attitude to bring into a recession. It is not the idea that requires defenestration, it’s just the soundbite.
Actually, sharing the costs of recession could be quite a good idea. Reducing public expenditure in real terms to fund tax reductions at a time when people were feeling the pinch might actually go down rather well.
Instead, as discussed on Today this morning, Ministers pop up to announce that £36 million is being spent on letting kids try out any sport they want. Explain that to the parents having to choose between heating and eating…