Comprehensive Spending Review
"A row has erupted over the CSR and it's impact on Scotland", according to the BBC.
To explain it simply, the Scottish Government compare the award this year against last year to get the percentage increase. Westminster strips out the 'exceptional' items of expenditure and then uses that lower figure to calculate the increase.
Who cares? Well we all should try to understand if the 'exceptional' items that are being stripped out are genuinely 'exceptional'.
Trying to create an argument about the size of the cuts (for that is what they are) is hardly going to make news, as I - and others - have been forecasting this for some time.
The quote from the SNP that this would bring bad news, leading to a "very real spending squeeze" in Scotland is countered by the Tories who say, The SNP won't then be able to blame Westminster for any of the difficulties arising out of what we all knew would be a tight spending review.
And that is the problem for the SNP. The CSR was going always to be tight; Labour in Westminster will make it much tighter for party political reasons; and the SNP have made numerous spending pledges without any compensating savings.
As Mr Micawber said, Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen nineteen six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery.
To explain it simply, the Scottish Government compare the award this year against last year to get the percentage increase. Westminster strips out the 'exceptional' items of expenditure and then uses that lower figure to calculate the increase.
Who cares? Well we all should try to understand if the 'exceptional' items that are being stripped out are genuinely 'exceptional'.
Trying to create an argument about the size of the cuts (for that is what they are) is hardly going to make news, as I - and others - have been forecasting this for some time.
The quote from the SNP that this would bring bad news, leading to a "very real spending squeeze" in Scotland is countered by the Tories who say, The SNP won't then be able to blame Westminster for any of the difficulties arising out of what we all knew would be a tight spending review.
And that is the problem for the SNP. The CSR was going always to be tight; Labour in Westminster will make it much tighter for party political reasons; and the SNP have made numerous spending pledges without any compensating savings.
As Mr Micawber said, Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen nineteen six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery.
2 comments:
David Cairns : "Alex Salmond has more to spend than Donald Dewar, more to spend than Henry McLeish, he has more to spend than any First Minister from Donald Dewar to Jack McConnell"
How many First Ministers have you left out of that list David?
Whatever happened to the investigation into the elections in May?
Has Douglas Alexander (and his Scotland Office colleague David Cairns) accepted any blame for the fiasco? Or is he leaving the apologies to his wee sister?
I think the public would think a lot more of him if he'd just put his hands up and say that he got it wrong, rather than trying to pass the buck.
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