End of ‘austerity’?

SO THERESA May has decided UK “austerity” is over. I see. Does she mean the end of government trying to balance the books? Last time I looked the national debt (money UK governments didn’t have, so they borrowed it) stood at a whopping (wait for it) £1.78 TRILLION, or 87.58 per cent of GDP. It costs the taxpayer a massive £48 billion a year in interest payments to finance it. The UK budget deficit (the difference between what it spends and what it raises each year) stands at £36.2 billion, smaller than it was, but still unsustainable, as the national debt is still rising.

Theresa thinks it’s time to spend, spend, spend. So does Corbyn. In their 2017 manifesto, Labour pledged an increase in spending of £60 billion. Since then so many other costly promises have been made, who knows what the price is?

Both parties are now promising “tax rises” to help finance it all. All past evidence shows that the higher taxes go, the lower the amount of revenue raised. Investment and capital flow abroad to avoid punitive tax. They call it “human nature”. Both parties will end up borrowing even more.

If you want real “austerity” and misery for the average family, that’s the way to do it. Governments have no money of their own; it belongs to the taxpayer or the lender. It’s easy to spend other people’s money and burden future generations with the cost of financing it. There’s nothing clever about any of that. It’s irresponsible and barmy.

Both Theresa and Jeremy have adopted the economics of the madhouse, in a bid to win votes. I expect it of Corbyn; I despair about May. She’s supposed to be a Tory, for goodness sake. Will somebody remind her?