Budget cuts: making them more real?

[palfrey]

I've been listening to all the talk about the cuts recently, and hearing the various ways it's going to screw over various people I know. I've just had a quick dig through all the so far listed stuff myself, and although I agree it's a fucked-up situation and I'm annoyed that I indirectly voted for this, I'm not seeing much that'll hit me. I'm

Comments

[rebeccaclark]

Well, if it doesn't "feel real" and the majority of people don't actually care, why should they be voted out? And if the majority do care, your opinion isn't really relevant. I know that the "my vote won't make a difference" thing is unhelpful, but I don't like people telling me what to think, and I don't actually think that George Osborne is wrong: we do have a budget deficit, and that isn't sustainable. We therefore have two options: spend less or tax more. At least the Conservatives picked one.

[chemical16]

Just be glad you're not going through strikes the way we are. Having most of the population wondering if they'll be able to catch a train/ have enough petrol to go earn their bread is a massive problem. Let alone the small inconveniences (they have run out of the Montbeliard sausage I normally have...)

Also, the regular closing down of Unis and schools is leaving a large backlog of lectures that may or may not be catch up-able....

On a larger scale, cuts are needed, though my eye turns toward Iraq and Afghanistan as I say this... but as you said "I indirectly voted for this", let alone the percentage of the population that directly did vote for lancing the abscess.

I personally think that Britain will be able to climb out of the econimic miasma sooner than France will, though the waters will make for rough sailing in the coming couple of years...

[valkyriekaren]

It doesn't feel real at the moment because it's just men in suits saying big numbers - it doesn't have a human face. Things like the rent increases for social housing and simultaneous cuts in housing benefit will feel an awful lot more real over the next year when we start seeing more homeless people.

It probably won't particularly hit most of our social circle that hard - we're mostly middle-class, educated and in employment. The majority have some form of savings, whether it's just an ISA or money in trust funds or stocks and shares. Assuming that the Tories 'austerity measures' actually have any effect (which isn't by any means certain - we could be heading for a double-dip recession) and the stock market recovers, people in that sort of position may have to tighten their belts a little in the short term but will be OK in the medium-to-long term. It's those that don't have any safety net who will suffer most.