Tag Archives: spending cuts

No alternative?

Posted on 1st November 2022 by Martin Cassini

No alternative to tax hikes and painful cuts to plug “the fiscal black hole” (of £50bn)? The IFS says they are inevitable, and the commentators I hear or read all agree. But of course there is a source of beneficial … Continue reading →

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Cuts – the usual suspects

Posted on 18th October 2022 by Martin Cassini

Radio 4’s PM wheels on various guests about possible spending cuts. Yesterday it was Mel Stride MP and Paul Johnson of the IFS. Today it was Paul Scully, Minister for local govt. “Where there is any fat,” asks Evan Davis, … Continue reading →

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Paradigm for paradise

Posted on 9th August 2018 by Martin Cassini

It’s anomalous, and scandalous, that while public services are cut to the bone, tens of £billions are blown on a traffic system which amounts to a public disservice. The system is dysfunctional. It fails on every count: safety, health, efficiency, … Continue reading →

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Invisible, ignored, baleful

Posted on 23rd November 2017 by Martin Cassini

“£12bn in welfare cuts to come”, says Paul Johnson of the IFS, “and billions more in other public service cuts. This is not the end of austerity.” Like everyone else, this economic guru is ignorant of the case for kind … Continue reading →

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No alternative?

Posted on 10th March 2013 by Martin Cassini

No alternative to welfare cuts, intone ignorant government ministers. The Opposition is just as bad. No, there is no possible way of putting to better use the tens of billions that support our brutal, unequal, inefficient traffic control system.  

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Cuts in welfare? Take a hike!

Posted on 2nd March 2013 by Martin Cassini

Former transport minister, Philip Hammond, now defence secretary, says further cuts in the armed forces would be wrong, so cuts should fall in welfare. There is no silver bullet, said someone else, repeating the moronic mantra that the media accept … Continue reading →

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Good cuts and bad

Posted on 25th November 2012 by Martin Cassini

Studies by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and the TUC predict that by 2016-17, the cumulative cost of public service cuts for the poorest tenth of households will be £3,995 – or 31.7% of their average annual income (Heather Stewart in … Continue reading →

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Different cuts

Posted on 8th October 2012 by Martin Cassini

George Osborne (Today Programme) wants to “tackle unfairness” by making welfare cuts of £10bn. Meanwhile, traffic system reform can still* provide annual cuts of £50bn that will hurt no-one except traffic managers and signal salesmen (*as I’ve been saying for years).

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Brick walls

Posted on 30th May 2012 by Martin Cassini

Our traffic control system makes roads dangerous, causes congestion, generates ill-will, encourages delinquency, damages air quality, damages our health, and costs a fortune. Despite my efforts to enlighten government and media (over the years I’ve emailed the Today programme a … Continue reading →

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Cable (and) cars

Posted on 23rd May 2011 by Martin Cassini

In the Guardian (21 May), Vince Cable warned about the scale of economic decline and the coming squeeze. He stressed the time and pain required to rebuild our broken economic model. He predicts the impact on living standards will come … Continue reading →

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