Tory "cuts"?

The question as to whether you can cut something that hasn't been spent yet is on everyone's lips at the moment. Yesterday, Tony Blair unveiled his latest posters (but they aren't for the election of course, oh no! No date has been decided yet, remember?) which talked about the Tories and their £35bn of cuts.

Of course, when the numbers are looked at closely, they are not quite cuts. They are still growths in spending, but just at a slower rate. So the Tories plans could more properly be termed "slightly less investment" than Labour. And in any case, Labour have not produced spending plans beyond 2008, making these projections somewhat hazy at best. It's difficult to predict the state of the economy that far ahead.

The simple solution to all of this is the one that most people apply on a daily basis: never trust politicians. It doesn't matter who they represent, this is just another example of why the British public have got so fed up with political spin. They've all been caught in a big lie once more, and so when they moan that they are "not given sufficient respect" while acting like butter wouldn't melt in their mouths, they would do well to reflect on their behaviour.

Perhaps then they'd understand why. They have lost our respect, and they aren't going to get it back until they show us they are worthy of it. If they think the negative campaigns they all have planned for the Election are going to change anything, then I guess they're a lot more naive than I thought they were...

Update: I wrote this post just hours before the story broke about how 8 out of 10 people don't trust politicians any more. Do I have my finger on the pulse or what! :)