Yes, it’s the UK Prime Minister ‘s birthday today. He’s 62 and is already showing signs of assertiveness. Before the landslide election victory he marshalled his MPs to toe the party line and is now having to make the hard decisions about where cuts will be made.
As a pensioner, I will not be getting the government’s winter fuel payment this year. Our household doesn’t need it anyway. More cuts and tax increases will follow. How the City of London and its financial community reacts to Labour ‘s economic policies will be interesting.
Keir is doing the sensible thing by implementing unpopular changes early on in his government’s first term of office. How he stimulates growth in the economy is trickier. He could promote public spending on things like road maintenance, potholes are everywhere. He could put forward legislation that would allow local governments to raise their own finances for major works in addition to the rates.
Increasing taxes or government borrowing would not be popular, particularly with the opposition parties. Walking the tightrope of public/private finance is a hard act to pull off successfully.
We saw how cronyism and the old boys network fed the coffers of the Tory faithful. Integrity and sound political decisions that deliver short and long term benefits for everyone is the utopian vision.
odespinner 