Today Britain stepped back from the brink
Posted by Stephen Mosley, MP for City of Chester, at 14:17, Wed 20 October 2010:
Government cuts are dominating the news at the moment. My post bag is full of letters from concerned residents worried about what is happening. I share these concerns and wanted to take this opportunity to discuss with you what is going on and why.
The public finances inherited by the Coalition Government are frankly appalling. The previous government doubled the national debt, and the country now faces a budget deficit of £155 billion. That is more than the combined budgets for education, transport and defence. We are currently haemorrhaging £120 million a day in interest payments to foreign creditors to pay for their schools and hospitals, not our own. This cannot continue.
We have to be fair, we have to reform and we must encourage economic growth.
As promised at the election, NHS spending has been protected and is increasing along with spending on schools and national security. We are concentrating public spending on areas that will help our economy grow such as investing in a new bridge over the Mersey. We are improving the way government delivers services and demanding greater value for your money.
The Government's robust approach is already paying dividends. Long-term interest rates in the UK are down by almost one per cent since the election. We are helping homeowners to manage their mortgages and businesses looking to borrow, invest and expand.
There is no sugar-coating the fact that cuts have to be made. But despite what our opponents are claiming, fairness is at the heart of this spending review. It is important that the wealthier in our society shoulder their share of the burden and that the more vulnerable are not hit disproportionately.
It is right to deal with this problem now. If we do then the benefits will be felt by everyone in our country with lower taxes, better public services and improved prospects.
Yours sincerely,
Stephen Mosley
Member of Parliament for the City of Chester
Comments
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Posted by Alison Greenwood, 15:28, Wed 20 October 2010: (Is this post abusive?) #
Stephen,
Thank you for your message. May I take this opportunity to remind you that you were elected MP for Chester to represent our views as your constituents at Westminster, not to represent Westminster's views to us. I seriously hope you will fight to save public sector jobs within Chester against these cuts, which although arguably necessary to some extent, are too fast and too deep and without necessary consultation.
Posted by Michael John McLean, 16:10, Wed 20 October 2010: (Is this post abusive?) #
Gosh. And there was me thinking the insane manouvres of greedy bankers might have had a part to play in this mess.
But no. It was the sick, the elderly, the public service workers who were responsible.
It's all clear now. Thanks.
Posted by Brian Chapman, 17:17, Wed 20 October 2010: (Is this post abusive?) #
It wasn't the bankers or the sick, elderly and public service workers it was Labour and Gordon Brown. We spent in the good times instead of saving for the lean, a son of the manse should have remembered the story of Joseph in Egypt. Labour presided over a massive job creation program, and by extending tax credits to the professional middle classes, created a client state whose best interest was to vote Labour. Enough sensible people saw through this and turfed them out.
Posted by Paul, 18:36, Wed 20 October 2010: (Is this post abusive?) #
STEPHEN MOSLEY - ENJOY THE SHORT TIME YOU WILL BE ELECTED AS THE CHESTER MP - IF THERE IS NOT A COUP BEFORE THE NEXT ELECTION THEN TORIES - LIB DEMS WILL OVERWHELINGLY BE VOTED OUT - FOR PEOPLE YOUNGER THAN ME THEY WILL NOT KNOW THE HURT - SUFFERING - AND TOTAL DISTRUCTION OF WORKING CLASS PEOPEL - YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED - BE PREPARED FOR WAR TO PREVENT WAR - THE CUTS WERE SAVAGE AND NOT NEEDED - THE POOREST WILL BE AFFECTED THE MOST - HOPE YOU CAN SLEEP AT NIGHT - ROLE ON THE REVERLUTION OR FOR TOTAL UNION BACKLASH
Posted by anne hesekth, 21:32, Wed 20 October 2010: (Is this post abusive?) #
Stephen, I am just a simple citizen of the UK and like most citizens can only relate to how government changes affect me and my family. I agree the debt is appalling and there are lots of things that go on behind closed doors that the general public are not aware of (not sure how true it is, but heard recently that Universities are part funded by the arms trade).
If I were in power I would not know what to do. I only understand that the economy is a vicious circle, take away the spending power from the people and everyone suffers. I myself have been buying second hand clothes, for years, and am not alone in this, this must affect the retail trade. Second hand shops and Car boot sales are thriving as proof. I don't change my furniture, or decorate every five minutes as I am trying to hang on to my pension as I don't know how long I have left to live. I have never had a new car and never will, but I am sure the motor trade would be better off if people like me could afford one. I don't go abroad on holiday every year, but would like to. I heard today on the news that the cap for benefits for any one family is £26,000. When both myself and my husband were working we never earned that between us, so this seems a very generous figure to me - the problem you have with the benefits system is that most people are better off on benefits than working, this should not be the case, and needs looking at.
Best of luck as the people will only see the cuts you are making and how they affect them, and not the fact that this situation has arisen by bad management.
Posted by Alan Moore, 07:17, Thu 21 October 2010: (Is this post abusive?) #
Stephen I have noted for weeks that the government is obsessed with this word "fairness." I have no axe to grind, since I have no children and have never wanted any, but I have yet to hear an answer which explains how it is fair to deprive a household of child benefit if its income is £46000 and still give the benefit to the home next door with a joint income of £75000. I would ask you to do what no other politician has done so far: answer that precise question directly. My guess is that it simply cannot be justified or proved "fair." I would also like to know what is "fair" about children from decent families having to suffer throughout their time at school because a small number of pupils persistently disrupt their lessons for years on end, whilst "fair" politicians send their children to private grammar schools or explore the benefits of excellent London schools whose catchments they don't live in. I ask this as a voter who recently retired after a 32 year career in secondary education. What is "fair" about responsible voters like myself feeling afraid to walk round this beautiful city on a nice summer evening because of the fear of antisocial behaviour? I could go on, but frankly I see little point, because I anticipate yet more bland answers which avoid the issues I raise. This is not a party political issue. It is about politicians of all parties failing to do anything other than skirt round the majoyr problems in our society, problems which do not dominate other western European societies to the same extent.