Spending review: The 'cuts' that mean public spending soars

[-:Undertaker:-]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/c...ing-soars.html

Spending review: The 'cuts' that mean public spending soars
Britain's £800m a year to India helps to pay for its space programme, writes Christopher Booker.

Amazing what we can still afford: Britain's £800 million a year to India funds its space program

The most overworked word of the week was obviously “cuts” (although the ineffable “fair” was never far behind). George Osborne may have been hailed by one newspaper front page as the “man who rolled back the state” as he “reverses 60 years of recklessly rising public spending” – but of course last week’s supposed curb on state expenditure was nothing of the kind.

As page 17 of the Treasury statement made clear, far from cutting Government spending, Mr Osborne’s own projections show that over the next four years it will continue remorselessly upwards, by larger jumps each year, from £696 billion to £739 billion. For all the dramatic talk of 25 or even 35 per cent cuts in the spending of some departments, such as the Foreign Office and the Home Office, these are more than offset by massive percentage increases in those areas of spending which top the list.

The one which has rightly drawn most flak is the colossal 47 per cent jump in our spending on overseas aid, due to rise from £7.8 billion to £11.5 billion. This includes, for instance, a further rise in the £800 million a year we already donate to India, one of the world’s fastest growing economies. This will be spent, inter alia, on promoting gender equality, assisting the Indians with their space programme, and of course on climate change (such as the £10 million free gift the Department For International Development is making to Dr Rajendra Pachauri’s Teri research institute).

This includes, however, only a part of the £2.9 billion that will be spent, along with the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC), as part of an EU scheme “to help developing countries pursue low-carbon growth and adapt to climate change”, which is a hefty part of the 27 per cent rise in the DECC budget over the next four years. A good case could be made that almost all spending on overseas aid and climate change is money chucked down the drain. (My favourite politically correct DFID project was building a Ferris wheel for the female inhabitants of the Afghan town of Lashkar Gah.)

Another item – which, intriguingly, Mr Osborne completely omitted from his statement, though it would be fourth on the list of fast-rising items of public expenditure – is the £16 billion a year we already contribute to “EU institutions”. This will be boosted by the EU Parliament’s decision, last week, that the EU Budget should rise by a further 6 per cent.

The article goes on about debt interest which is going to continue to soar even after these 'cuts'.. so there you have it - these 'cuts' do not exist. Government spending is still out of control, the state is still growing by billions it does not have every year and all that is occuring is a slight re-arrangement in finances; shifting money (which we don't have in the first place) from domestic budgets to the likes of foreign aid, climate change and the European Union.

So Labour voters/supporters; you've got nothing to fear from this government.
Conservative voters/supporters.. you've been well and truly duped (again).
& most of all, the joke is on all of us because we are still funding a state which is ballooning out of control.

You won't hear any of this on mainstream news though, but there you have it.

[Jordy]

You won't hear this in mainstream news because it's insignificant that's why. You're talking about rises of a few billion yet George Osborne is saving £81 Billion. So yes certain things are rising a tiny bit, but the bigger picture is there is massive cuts.

So stop putting "Cuts" in quotation marks to pretend they're not happening and spread your crap elsewhere, preferably down the toilet.

[-:Undertaker:-]

You won't hear this in mainstream news because it's insignificant that's why. You're talking about rises of a few billion yet George Osborne is saving £81 Billion. So yes certain things are rising a tiny bit, but the bigger picture is there is massive cuts.

So stop putting "Cuts" in quotation marks to pretend they're not happening and spread your crap elsewhere, preferably down the toilet.

Booker has just shown how government spending overall is still to increase (yes, the opposite of decrease aka 'cuts') as will the deficit;

As page 17 of the Treasury statement made clear, far from cutting Government spending, Mr Osborne’s own projections show that over the next four years it will continue remorselessly upwards, by larger jumps each year, from £696 billion to £739 billion.

Overall government expenditure is set to increase, not decrease which you'd be led to believe by the likes of the media and the government/offical opposition. Oh but wait! the Tories wouldn't lie like the Labour Party would they!?

Come on now, they've been caught out - the only load of 'crap' is the spending review.

[Chippiewill]

Why are we giving my money to india? Do we even have a space programme?

[Special]

why are we giving india money arrrrrrrrrr i feel like stabbing them

also are they getting rid of ema next year

[AgnesIO]

why are we giving india money arrrrrrrrrr i feel like stabbing them

also are they getting rid of ema next year

Yes thank god.

So Dan. Who do you suggest is voted in next, without being at all bias? I pray to god it isn't a party who believes the UK should be independent, as it is vital to keep your relations with other countries strong. And we are helping India as they are part of the commonwealth.

[-:Undertaker:-]

Yes thank god.

So Dan. Who do you suggest is voted in next, without being at all bias? I pray to god it isn't a party who believes the UK should be independent, as it is vital to keep your relations with other countries strong. And we are helping India as they are part of the commonwealth.

I'd advise anyone to vote for any other party provided it is not the Lib/Lab/Con. In terms of independent, you mean not being ruled by the European Union I presume? as the 6th largest economy in the world we can damn well be independent and we've been pretty good at managing our own country since the collapse of the Roman Empire have we not?

The India point, being in the Commonwealth has nothing to do with it. India has enough money to help itself with its expensive nuclear programmes, its space mission and vast sums of investment entering the country. If the Commonwealth now does mean that the UK has to pay for the rest of the world then i'd pull out of that aswell - afterall it doesn't mean anything anymore seeing as we selfishly turned our backs on them when we entered the straitjacket of the EU.

Who and what would you suggest? more of the same?

[Chippiewill]

I pray to god it isn't a party who believes the UK should be independent, as it is vital to keep your relations with other countries strong. And we are helping India as they are part of the commonwealth.

I think that perhaps funding should stop when said countries economy is good enough to launch a space programme. After all, it's not exactly a necessity.

I'd advise anyone to vote for any other party provided it is not the Lib/Lab/Con.

I wouldn't advise BNP or Monster Raving Loony party. Maybe that's just me?

In terms of independent, you mean not being ruled by the European Union I presume? as the 6th largest economy in the world we can damn well be independent and we've been pretty good at managing our own country since the collapse of the Roman Empire have we not?

I don't see any problem with sticking with our dictator overlords, our economy is doing so well because of it..

The India point, being in the Commonwealth has nothing to do with it. India has enough money to help itself with its expensive nuclear programmes, its space mission and vast sums of investment entering the country. If the Commonwealth now does mean that the UK has to pay for the rest of the world then i'd pull out of that aswell - afterall it doesn't mean anything anymore seeing as we selfishly turned our backs on them when we entered the straitjacket of the EU.

Let's not be hasty, we don't want all the poorer countries thinking that we think that we're better than them.