On the spending review I am still in shock about some of the details and will have more to say, particularly about housing. Nick Robinson did a blow by blow account A good economic analysis is here. A pro-Cuts response is here and an anti-cuts response is here. A distributional analysis is here – although this graph says much of that:
Deeply worrying. How we are going to find 26% cuts in the council budget I don’t yet know. I promised during my election campaign I would use my vote to protect key local services as far as I can. I mean to honour that promise, but I am sure that there will be painful times ahead.
UPDATE: I’m glad I wasn’t the only one who found Osbourne’s confusion of real, cash annual, cumulative cuts annoying
How can the council survive with a 26% cut in its budget? For starters Unite can be booted out of the top floor of the council or you can actually charge them rent/more than token rent. That would increase income coming in or if they're kicked out then someone else can come in and pay the going rent.
Some staff will no doubt lose their jobs. Thankfully now that Labour aren't in control of the council we'll see back office jobs going instead of the frontline staff as Labour removed during Thatcher's cuts. The Tory run councils coped quite well whilst Thatcher had to clean up Labour's previous outing in power, whilst the Labour run councils cut frontline staff to 'prove a point'. All that did was hinder the residents living under that council's control. But then again Labour has never actually cared about local residents and regularly ignores their concerns.
I did find it quite amusing that you're claiming that the BBC gives a good economic analysis. The BBC is incredibly biased. I'm surprised that you used the FT though as that's far more reliable than the BBC.
And why shouldn't benefits be reduced? Why should I, or indeed others, have to pay for other people's kids? They already receive free education, that should be more than enough. I'd have scrapped child benefit full stop, or only pay it for the 1st child. If you can't afford kids then don't have them. Now the coalition just needs to sort out the council houses, namely the 90,000 that have been passed down in wills despite the 'new' occupants not being eligible for them. Good to see that the council house rents are increasing too, should mean that a single person won't be able to afford to rent a 3 bedroom house.