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| Quote: Year after year, Budget after Budget, George Osborne has stood at the despatch box and promised to balance the books. Indeed, closing the gap between what the government spends and what it takes in taxes was the government's main mission. But it has proved harder than Mr Osborne had hoped. He would blame circumstances beyond his control which - again - threaten to push his targets further back. | |
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-35808186
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| Quote: He [Former head of the Home Civil Service Lord Kerslake] told me: "The savings that have to be found will require very substantial changes in the way things are delivered - or, indeed, the offer made." In other words, public services will have to be delivered much more cheaply, or the public will have to accept very different levels of provision. | |
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I think that’s the nub of it right there. The cuts are not about “austerity” but about moving services from the public sector to the private sector - but in a far bigger way than before. I would not be surprised if, in the future, some welfare benefits will be handled by private insurance rather than by the state - you’ll have to pay into a policy to receive, say, unemployment benefits. We know the NHS is already target for privatisation, and I think we’re all awaiting the day when private insurance becomes a necessity.
