If the ship of state really were a ship it would have capsized by now, argues David Lord Frost in an article in today’s Telegraph.
Over-manned, inefficient and deeply unresponsive to the wishes of voters and consumers, the answer surely is not to throw more money at it through higher borrowing and further taxation, but to cut the latter by cutting the former. Regrettably, the Chancellor seems to be in-hoc to narrow treasury orthodoxy:
"Speaking to the Commons, he was very clear about the storms we were facing, but couldn't bring himself to take the obvious step of reversing last year's tax and national insurance rises.”
To be fair
“some lighter fiscal measures in the form of NI thresholds and fuel duty were thrown overboard to steady the ship. And more tax cuts were promised as soon as the current turbulence was over and smoother water reached.”
All of which is fine, according to Lord Frost
“But the underlying problems remain. The British state is doing too much and a lot of it badly. The tax burden is at its highest since the Attlee government. Spending is at its highest on a sustained basis since the 1970s. That's not an environment that supports economic growth.”
Nothing short of a fundamental re-calibration of the State is required if Britain is ever to recover its political and economic clout in the world again.
“Between now and the autumn Budget, I would like to see the Government develop a credible plan to reduce the size of the state to the levels of successful countries such as Switzerland or Australia over the long term: to simplify and cut taxes, to trim spending, and (as the Chancellor noted) to encourage investment, R&D, and skills. Then the Government needs to argue for it and defeat those who say that only an ever-enlarging state will do the job.”
The full article can be read here with a link to the original beneath it:
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