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+++Stop Press+++ Lib Dem 2015 manifesto to cut spending by an additional £30bn

November 29th, 2011 Posted in Liberal Democrats by

A remarkably brave and honest performance by Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander on Newsnight, mere moments ago.

Given the disappointing deficit reduction figures to date, the next government will have to make additional savings of around £30bn to get the public finances back into balance.

Danny made it unambiguously clear that a commitment to find these savings will be in the next manifesto.

Even Paxo was surprised about his frankness and unambiguous clarity.

A top performance.

And at least we also know the task for LibDem conference for the next couple of years. And at least it’s a clear challenge, which should help us avoid any danger of descending into an irresponsible “whinge fest”.

So, where would we start in finding those additional savings?

*UPDATE* – You can view the interview here.

7 Responses to “+++Stop Press+++ Lib Dem 2015 manifesto to cut spending by an additional £30bn”

  1. Chris Says:

    What conceivable relevance could any utterance by Danny Alexander have to what “the next government” may or may not have to do?

    The only way I can imagine that he could have any influence on the next government would be as a Tory backbencher. And while in one sense that is not hard to imagine, it’s not likely that he could be re-elected as a Tory in Inverness – where the Conservatives polled only 13% last year – and beloved as he is by the Tories, I can’t see them finding him a safe seat in England.


  2. Steve Tierney Says:

    Well, I’m impressed. But I’m a Tory, so that’s probably not great news for you guys. : )


  3. dan Says:

    will this not be the last straw for many on the left of the party?


  4. Jack Hughes Says:

    Chop foreign aid down to zero – that will save £8bn every year at least.

    People who want to give money overseas can do this themselves with their own money.

    Then sack everyone with “outreach” in their job title.

    Dump the obsession with climate/global warming. Forget the windmills, solar panels (in Scotland FFS) and other crazy ideas.

    Copy the Swiss foreign policy including their take on the EU. They could run our railways as well while we’re at it.


  5. Geoffrey Payne Says:

    I do not know how anyone can be pleased about this. The reason he said what he said is because the economic policy is failing. I do not see any signs that the people of this country are enjoying the policy of spending cuts and tax rises that the government is implementing right now. So more of the same is not a happy prospect for 2015, and other govrnments in the EU have fallen because of it.


  6. Angela Says:

    Hi Geofrrey – Yep – I agree on the state of the country’s finances and the likely impact this will have on people is anything but good news. What is good news is the honesty that our party is demonstrating on this occassion. We saw all three main parties at the last general election seek to obfiscate about the economy at every twist and turn. When the Liberal Democrats did form a coalition – we explained that we “had no idea” just how bad the finances actually were. This may be true or may not be – but certainly wont be a credible statement come 2015. So the “good” to come out of this – and what is so refreshing – is the honesty and grown-up response of the party to the problems facing us. I hope his pre-emptive annoucement will force the other parties (and Labour in particular) into equal honesty with the electorate. Then at least we can have a responsible discussion about how to tackle the problem – which is, I think, what we all want.


  7. Chris Says:

    “what is so refreshing – is the honesty and grown-up response of the party …”

    What would really be refreshing and “grown-up” was an admission that these are complicated problems and that there aren’t any obvious, simplistic solutions to them. And that politicians have the power to choose which sections of society will suffer most as a result of the measures they take.

    Instead I see a politician who was peddling one simplistic solution last year peddling a quite different simplistic solution this year, with no apparent awareness that a range of options are possible. Sometimes I wonder why we bother to have elections at all.