Labour politicians here in Merton and elsewhere say that Government cuts threaten vital public services. Notwithstanding that they should actually be blaming Gordon Brown, the problem is really more serious.
Cuts are never nice but the key to growing social spending is the creation of wealth on an expanding scale. Labour has never made this a priority. Gordon Brown ran out of money and his spending plans became unaffordable. We must make sure that this never happens again. It is important that we succeed because there is so much that a civilised country would have and much that a rich country can afford.
The greatest threat to meeting the challenge is the idea that we can live beyond our means or raise taxes to levels that discourage personal enterprise. We need an aspirational society to create the wealth that can meet its widespread needs. Conservatives have always encouraged everyone that can to play a full role in economic growth.
Bill Clinton famously identified the economy as the key election issue. Very few British socialists are as perceptive as this. In Merton their blame of George but not Gordon’s approach to budgets may be ‘politics as usual’ but it does not bode well for sustainable public services wherever Labour are ‘in power’.
Conservative Councillor John Bowcott
Village Ward
- Send your letters to: letters@wimbledonguardian.co.uk
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