Majority of voters reject Chancellor’s plan to permanently shrink the state

Commenting on the speech by the Chancellor today (Monday) – in which he set out plans to make £25bn worth of additional public spending cuts if the Conservatives are re-elected in 2015 ­­– TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said:

“Voters may have endured the cuts as nasty medicine during recent years of recession and stagnation but they expect to benefit now that the economy is recovering.

“Polling shows that people do not share the Chancellor’s vision of permanently shrinking the state, with most wanting the services that have been cut to be restored as growth returns. Fewer than three in ten people want cuts retained.

“Public spending cuts of the magnitude proposed by George Osborne would cause real pain to hard-working people. Such cuts could not be achieved without getting rid of the vital safety net that people need if they have a baby, lose their job, or have an accident at work. Three-quarters of the welfare cuts already announced have fallen on working people, and further cuts will simply prolong the living standards crisis.”