Don’t cave in to the Budget spendthrifts

IT was inevitable, of course: in the run-up to the Budget, wails for more money have come from every nook and cranny of the public sector. And how significant that, amid all the shroud waving – particularly on the BBC – there is a complete absence of any serious discussion about the perilous state of the public finances.

Worryingly, since the election many Tory MPs have become gripped by the entirely false idea that austerity cost the party seats, and loosening the purse strings will restore its popularity.

To their discredit, Cabinet ministers have demanded billions more for public sector pay. There have been calls for £50billion for house- building which, yes, is highly desirable. But what no one will admit is that the crisis is caused largely by a huge immigration-fuelled population increase.

So the Mail issues a reminder to those Tory wets urging Chancellor Philip Hammond to turn on the spending taps: This country is up to its eyeballs in debt.

The total pile is a colossal £1.8trillion. Simply paying the interest every year costs £41.5billion – nearly as much as we spend on our fraying national defences. And the most startling fact: since 2000 we have wasted – there is no other word – more than £500billion on servicing that debt.

Taking us further into the red would be the economics of the madhouse. It would also be politically disastrous, undermining the Tories’ hard-won fiscal credibility and giving credence to Labour’s insane economic policies.

After the fiasco of his last Budget, expectations for Mr Hammond are set justifiably low. We have one suggestion to help him out of his pickle. To find extra cash, why doesn’t he take a great chunk out of the £13billion foreign aid budget which is largely wasted on despots and countries like China and India?