Conservatives – Back in the Black?

Last week the Institute Fiscal Studies confirmed that the government was back in the black for it’s day to day spending commitments, and yes this was 2 years later then plan. It’s the first time since 2001 that a government has managed to run a surplus. This is good news given that back in 2010 when we first came to power the budget deficit was £100 billion. Whilst it is good news that the day to day budget is now in surplus, we still have a little way to go to eliminate it all. We still have a deficit on the capital side of the budget, the total debt that the country owes. Is still too high and this still needs to be addressed. We’ve come so far but the job isn’t finished yet.

So the question on many people minds will be what does this hold for the future and future public spending commitments. As many people will be aware that over the last 8 years, we have had to bring public spending under control. This has meant that many different bodies have had to make difficult decisions. The Government has maintained its commitment to increasing funding on the NHS over this period.

The Government is steadfast in its commitment to eliminate the deficit and also the overall debt. We spend 8% of GDP on NHS and 2% on defence, we are proud to be one of the few countries to meet our NATO commitment.  

The simple truth is there is more to do. The British people still spend £46 billion a year servicing our national debt, a Conservative Government are still the only party who can address this. It is great news, that on a day to day basis we are back in the black, but which party do you honestly believe can tackle the next step? We cannot succumb to the siren calls of more spending as we will only be risking the good work done so far and end up in more trouble than before.