Britain: What will a 20 percent cut in public spending mean for workers?

With the international financial institutions demanding that Britain rein in its ballooning debt, all the main political parties are committed to deep-going cuts in public expenditure to pay for the bank bailout and further enrich their corporate backers.

The government’s budget deficit has risen to nearly 12 percent of GDP. The total accumulated debt is £952 billion and this is set to rise to £1.4 trillion in 2014-15 as a result of the bank bailouts, subventions, guarantees and quantitative easing measures—not far short of Britain’s entire GDP. With no curb on their activities, the banks continue with their reckless and semi-criminal practices.

While none of the parties are spelling out their spending plans very precisely, most estimates suggest that to reduce the debt by 50 percent in the lifetime of the next parliament, as Labour has promised, departmental budgets will have to be cut by nearly 20 percent over the next four years.

To understand the implications, it is necessary to review the employment situation in Britain today. The years 1992 to 2007 saw the longest boom in the post war period. Real output rose by an average of 4 percent a year, but the results as far as the vast majority of working people are concerned have been meagre...despite the longest boom in the post war period, there has been little genuine private sector job creation...

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/apr2010/brit-a21.shtml

other MILLION dollar bonuses? Income disparity can go on for only SO long before even Americans will act out. We are not a subdued and patient peoples like those tolerant folks in Asia. We are more kindred spirits with the fiercely independent French more than we are willing to admit. Soon, the nonviolent resistance will begin ... it's not going to be pretty.