Minister Tells The Truth Shock!

Hillary Benn has clearly had some sort of truth drug in his early morning coffee. Because he has committed the dual cardinal Nu Labour sins of telling the truth and stating that the current levels of spending aren't sustainable:

Mr Benn told the BBC programme: "If I look at my department's budget, it is going to go down a bit and therefore we will have to prioritise."

Quite. I don't understand this made up bitching between parties about spending cuts. Everyone can see that the government has two options - reduce spending, or continue at the current levels of spending, bankrupt the country and then reduce suspending. The only person insane enough to pursue the second option is Gordon Brown; every other politician knows spending is going to have to be cut - it is just a question of what and when. 

The parties are ideologically identical to a large extent these days. Yet we're asked to tell them apart when at the ballot box. The issue of expenditure is one where the parties can put down the clear dividing lines in place. So this debate needs to change. Start from the assumption that spending needs to be reduced, and then tell us what you are going to cut and why. 

As a head's up, the party offering the largest spending cuts will probably be the one who gets my vote...