A Pre-Budget mess

I listened to the radio this morning and heard Chancellor Darling defending his performance in the Commons yesterday. There are a number of issues here.

The people of this country wanted some honesty from their Government. Instead they got the same degree of spin that many thought they had dumped when Blair resigned.

Firstly there are the benefits increases which will go up now and which he will then take back again after the elections - still assumed to be in May.

Then there is idea that you ring fence the spending on the biggest employer in Europe (the NHS) but then put up National Insurance Rates that will themselves mean the NHS would be nearly £500m worse off and have to make cuts elsewhere.

It is hardly surprising that Darling had great trouble justifying this old style politics of doing what is right for the self-interest of the Government and not about the country's appalling financial mess.

The simple problem we have is that when the Government does come to cut spending there will be rising unemployment - indeed they have agreed that unemployment will rise. But think how bad the recession will be if Government does not get the national debt under control, and start doing so now. My time in local government tells me that what you plan to cut now can take years to come through as a saving. If we don't try to control the national debt then money markets will look at the UK and deem lending to the government as risky and will price money lending on that basis. This will mean our interest rates will soar and inflation will rise sharply. You will then face massively rising unemployment and the likelihood of greater home repossessions.

This is what Labour is gambling with. In not cutting their debt they are gambling with unemployment and homelessness Armageddon. Given that situation do you trust Brown and Darling to get it right?

Time for change!