Cuts Are Not a Necessity, Nor Are They Inevitable

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/mar/07/spending-cuts-labour-election-tories
Compelling case made there.

Should public sector workers, the listeners of BBC6, students in FE/HE be penalised for the recession? A recession caused by a corrupt financial system - unchecked capitalism - aided and abetted by our politicians.

The nerve is extraordinary for Conservatives - and to a large extent, Labour - to be claiming public sector cuts would in effect be victim-less. Try lopping 20% off the budget of any area which provides frontline services to the public... The excess auditing and the culture of yearly mock-OFSTED inspections would be savings that could be made.

Redundancies in the civil service or education sectors may only amount to miniscule savings, considering the redundancy payments and future welfare benefits that the state will have to pay out.

Across-the-board pay freezes and reductions in managerial salaries might be part of the answer.

No cuts are wholly victimless - e.g. not renewing trident would mean cuts in Cumbria, getting rid of ID cards would affect the Durham passport offices. But these would at least be principled decisions - unlike the main parties' application of warped 'realism' to HE / FE / Local Authorities / Civil Services.

The BBC comes into this too. The strategic review talked about 'Quality' but not Public Service Broadcasting. I urge all to read the Strategic Review here and then respond to it...:
https://consultations.external.bbc.co.uk/departments/bbc/bbc-strategy-review/consultation/consult_viewAlso, sign this petition for good measure; ensure it exceeds 100,000 signatories:
http://www.petition.fm/petitions/6musicasiannet/1000/

Preserve and support what is good public service: libraries, health care, BBC, NHS. The battle is only beginning and the General Election outcome will play a significant role in this. The debate must be joined now by all who care about retaining the vestiges of enlightenment to be found in Blighty. One cannot sit back resigned and watch the things you care about disintegrating; the forces of ignorance will win otherwise.