A cut a day...
Although (as I have blogged about before) I think that the broad thrust of the direction the government is moving in in terms of adjusting the public finances is the right one I have to say that they could be a bit smarter about how they release the information.
It continues to come out in dribs and drabs. There was Danny Alexander's statement about cuts a couple of weeks ago. Then the budget. Then another statement from Danny. And in between and since there have been other announcements about cuts.
It plays into this idea that the government keeps deciding to cut even more on an ongoing basis. I do not think this is what is happening, I think the strategy has been set from the start but the perception on the ground will just hear the continual announcements and it will feel like it is never ending.
Surely a better strategy would be to just release all the news about cuts in one go (or as few goes as possible, certainly fewer than we have seen)?
Of course all of the cuts will be debated, that is right and proper but they will not necessarily lead the headlines every other day and the government can then hopefully get some coverage for some of the other things it is doing.
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2 comments:
I think you're right with regards to the impression that may be given by the various rounds of announcements.
I'm not sure what the alternative is, though. While intentions can be announced quite quickly, surely the detail takes time, and differing amounts of time for each area. Once a cut (or an unfulfillable spending pledge) has been decided upon though, shouldn't it be made public as soon as possible?
The government could put out everything in one go at the spending review - but surely wants to show it's committed to action now.
It would also be damaging if it were to sit on decisions, which could potentially leak, while speculation ran wild in the media.
I think this is a "damned if you do..." situation but on balance, think it's right to get things out as and when they are settled.
I also think that the government should be careful with how they give information about the budget cuts. I also agree with what the government is doing with the budget cuts especially during these tough economic times.
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