Comprehensive Spending Review

Left Foot Forward explains why the hairshirt approach isn't working in Ireland. I can understand why George Osborne is so committed to early and swingeing cuts in spending. It is part and parcel of his anti-state ideology, but I do find it hard to get why the Liberal Democrats are going the same way. If Liberal Democrats like Vince Cable and Chris Huhne believe in what they said during the election campaign, they must be expecting the sheer size of the cuts to drive us back into recession, and make the deficit worse not better. Then they will be faced with a double or quits option: make even more cuts to balance the Budget a la Philip Snowden, or attempt a much bigger stimulus than they would have needed if they were taking a gentler approach to deficit reduction now.