A return to austerity will not solve Britain’s problems
3 min read
Things will get worse before they get better. It doesn’t quite have the same ring to it as D:Ream’s 90s hit – but then covers are rarely as good as the original.
Let’s be clear. Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s gloomy primer, in the week before parliament returned, and his pleas for patience are not without merit. The legacy of the Conservative Party’s rudderless populism is that our country has been left in a terrible state.
From overpopulated prisons to polluted rivers, the anxious waits for end-of-month pay packets and even more agonising waits for NHS treatment – not a scrap of society has been left unblemished by the blue blowtorch of the previous Conservative government.
It is why people voted for change. Whether red or yellow badged, new MPs have been sent to Westminster to deliver a better future and a fairer deal for Britain.
If this Labour government is going to succeed, it will need to do better than rehash old tunes
But voters may be forgiven for questioning just how drastically different things will be as the mood music is played out by this new Labour government.
The two-child cap on supporting struggling families will remain in place. The winter fuel allowance for cold-threatened pensioners will be taken away. Public services, from the NHS to police to schools, are all being asked to brace for further “tough decisions”. It will be “painful”, Starmer explained.
But who will feel the pain? Will this medicine actually work? And, crucially, is it the only medication that could be prescribed?
Starmer says he wants to end the politics of easy answers – and I agree. But on the exam question of “how to fix Britain”, he sidesteps complex answers in favour of a simple one that we have all heard before: we must tighten our belts.
If this approach turns out to be what it sounds like – a continuation of short-sighted decisions – there is a real danger that we will get the same results as before: stumbling productivity, low growth and declining public services.
I want this government to succeed, and that’s why, in this Parliament, the Liberal Democrats will be a truly constructive opposition – making the case for the bold action and positive solutions our country needs.
That means increased investment in our NHS and social care system, radical reform of the water industry, and improving the support available to families battling with the cost of living crisis.
Our proposals do not rely on a magic money tree but fair and reasonable tax reforms that ask little of those struggling and more from our country’s wealthiest.
We also put forward the difficult, but surely correct, argument that in many areas of public expenditure it is possible to invest to save. This is most obvious in healthcare.
We can get millions back to work, only if we invest in tackling the backlog of those awaiting treatment on the NHS.
We can stop hospital trusts leaking money in maintenance and repairs, only if we invest in new hospital buildings that will pay for themselves over their lifetimes.
And we can stop the queue to NHS services growing in the first place, only if we invest in preventative public health measures and finally fix adult social care.
It’s all too tempting to believe that, following the disastrous Conservative government, things can only get better. But if this Labour government is going to succeed, it will need to do better than rehash old tunes.
Bobby Dean, Liberal Democrat MP for Carshalton and Wallington
PoliticsHome Newsletters
Get the inside track on what MPs and Peers are talking about. Sign up to The House's morning email for the latest insight and reaction from Parliamentarians, policy-makers and organisations.
