The Great British Sale – Everything Must Go!!

So it finally happened, Britain’s much anticipated and expected spending cuts were revealed, and left many pondering what the nation’s outlook is for the foreseeable future.

With the announcement made almost a month ago and greeted with the usual intensive media scrutiny, it is now that we are starting to see if not digest the financial cuts being made and its corresponding implications. Exemplified by the passionate student protests that took place earlier this week over the steep rise in tuition fees, it provides a timely reminder of the effects of Britain’s spending review.

Many have speculated that these cuts imposed by the coalition government have thrown Britain into a dark chasm, an abyss which will put the country on the back foot for many years to come. 

A route labelled as hitting Britain’s poorest and most vulnerable the hardest, with some going as far to say it is a classic case of penalising ‘the little guy’ and safe guarding Britain’s rich during tough economic times. Contrasting views will tell you that this was an inevitable measure. An act that had to be taken to help reduce the massive deficit overseen by the previous administration which needed swift action, as opposed to further drastic intervention at a later course.

What is very hard to argue is that action was unavoidable and without a doubt needed to be taken regardless of which party was to have been elected in power last May. To underline how great the deficient is, Britain is reported to have the third worst deficit in the world behind Iceland and Greece respectively. So delaying would on inflame the situation.

With these extreme measures taken by the newly formed government to counteract this great void, many naturally are going to have varying thoughts with opinions clearly divided. Especially in the case as it is going to shape and form the wider society during these turbulent times. Analysts may claim that more taxation should have been enforced to avoid cuts, with experts rebuffing this action and saying these cuts are not enough and more should have been done.

Either way it is probably safe to say one could evaluate every single factor of the spending review, but it is easier to conclude that this debate is very much dependant on one’s personal outlook and attitude. But one aspect that stands out to me than any other regarding the spending review is, have the Liberal-Conservatives got it right in proposing to axe half a million public sector jobs?

With almost three million people recorded as being unemployed in Britain, adding another half a million to this hefty total is hardly helping the cause in reducing this number. Despite the coalition regime claiming it wants to get Britain ‘working’ and facilitate people in gainful employment, where are the provisions in place to get effectively 3.5 million civilians in work?  It is easy for the government to get rid of such a large number of jobs with the intension to address the nation’s financial problems, but surely isn’t this just replacing one problem and adding it to an already growing problem of Britain’s unemployed? If jobs are scarce enough at present, where will these people go, how will they survive, as they are still going to be part of the UK’s society?

This is magnified with the fact that it is the public sector that will bare the brunt of these job losses, an employment section that we all use from hospitals and their staff, to police services that is intended to protect our streets and the social well-being. Perhaps it is a simplistic view I am taking, but are the cuts going to jeopardise the safety and welfare of the British public all in the name of economics?

A second factor that is of major concern regarding the government’s reviewed plans is the education cuts being presented. By retreating from providing support of key educational projects, and associated related grants and services, surely is this not short-changing our youth? Shouldn’t children and young adults be allowed to have a sound level of education as opposed to haggled one where corners are cut?

And what about today’s present generation? Many students in the UK are already having major difficulties in finding jobs once finishing university, a fact which some of you reading this can well attest too. In some quarters I have heard dialogue of some former students openly stating that university studies are a waste of personal time and resources. A redundant practise, that avails a microscopic opportunity for students to showcase their skills in the employment world.

With this negative status slowly being attributed to university education, tripling the amount in university fees that needs to paid is only going to further act as a deterrent of higher educational study. An experience that only the fortunate few can afford, and the emerging eminence of many declaring, ‘I will have little prospect of obtaining a job once I finish university, and have the probable prospect of swimming in thousands of pounds in debt, university thanks but no thanks’.      

Is this the depiction that the government should be encouraging regarding education? Because what should not be forgotten is that it is the Britain’s youth that will ultimately lead the nation to desired future prosperity,and readdress the country’s flagging fortunes. If their learning, ambitions and dynamism is stifled, then isn’t the coalition government merely shooting itself in the foot and crucially the UK as a nation?