Three Thousand Versts of Loneliness

An ‘age of austerity’ is the cliché to which journalists have taken recourse in the aftermath of Wednesday’s budget. The Guardian’s Martin Kettle reminds readers that it will almost certainly be Conservatives who must steward the economy through the difficult years from 2010 (many of Alistair Darling’s proposals are to be implemented during the next parliament). Nick Robinson describes the forthcoming difficulties in similar terms and doggedly presses the Chancellor to admit that, evasive language not withstanding, he will be cutting public expenditure. Darling’s prognosis of an economy overburdened with debt has scarcely surprised the vast majority of observers. And many commentators believe that the government is being much too optimistic in its appraisal of Britain’s ability to cope with mounting indebtedness whilst also embarking upon a financial recovery. If the IMF comprises a substantial impartial authority on national economies (and the Prime Minister has given every ind...

Roy Beggs Junior has pointed out the disparity between the proposed increase in spending for the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister and that designated to health . " It is staggering to think that the DUP-Sinn Fein Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister is receiving greater priority than our National Health Service. That this is occurring at a time when health expenditure in the rest of the UK is rising at a significantly greater level will only increase the unacceptable disparity between health care in Northern Ireland and elsewhere in the UK. " Incredibly spending on the OFMDFM has increased from £32m in the previous devolved administration to £73.9m in the current dispensaton. It takes a lot of money to keep the rictus grins of the Chuckle Brothers in place.

The Belfast Telegraph notes aghast in its leader that Alistair Darling only intends a 1.9% increase in public spending for Northern Ireland as announced in his Pre Budget Report. This represents a lower growth rate than that to which we have become accustomed. There follows a confused piece in which it is acknowledged that the Northern Irish economy is overly-reliant on the public sector but Mr Darling is criticised for expecting growth to come from the private sector. It is also presented as a “bad thing” that Finance Minister Peter Robinson is expected to deliver savings by increasing the Assembly’s efficiency. Perhaps the fact that “devolution is a costly exercise, as the public is discovering, with 11 departments to finance and another - justice and policing - on the way” should cause us to examine whether devolution is necessary, whether it can be delivered in a more efficient manner and whether its extent shouldn’t be limited, rather than eliciting howls of outrage when grea...