This week at the Conservative Party conference the Chancellor of the
Exchequer, George Osborne stated that we cannot choose the times in
which we live, but we can choose how we live in those times. Certainly
the new Government would rather not have taken office with the country
feeling the strain of the biggest budget deficit in peace time, and in
the wake of the greatest recession we have known since the war.
However, rather than shrink from the responsibility of facing these
challenges, they are determined to roll their sleeves up and get on
with the job. This of course means wiping out the budget deficit and
having a credible plan to reduce the country’s debts. It is worth
noting of course that when we talk about wiping out the deficit, we
just mean the amount of extra money the government has to borrow each
year just to pay its bills. We believe that the country has to get to
a position by 2015 where it is living within its means.
At the moment the Government spends more on debt interest than on
national defence or schools. This is not sustainable, and everyone
knows that the more debt you have, the harder it is to keep up the
repayments. The experience of countries like Greece and Ireland show
that you either face these problems before they become a crisis, or
wait for the crisis to confront you. This means taking some difficult
decisions, like cutting child benefit to higher rate income tax
payers. I would rather that we didn’t have to do this, but the
£1billion saving this will bring, a small part contributed by the
Collins household, is a necessary measure to help bring down the
deficit. However, there are some reforms like the changes announced
this week to the welfare system which will save money, but are also
the right thing to do.
It cannot be right for people to be in a position where they are
better off living on benefits than going out to work. So the
Government is reforming the system to correct this. In the future, it
will always pay to be in work. Also, it cannot be right that the total
income for a family living on benefits is greater than the average
income of a working family. The Government is also going to ensure
that this is no longer the case. I believe that we are all in this
together, which means that the better off should be asked to pay their
fair share to reduce the deficit, but also that people who can work,
and are offered a job, should take it.
There are of course many people in our community who not only work
hard to support themselves and their families, but also volunteer to
help others and good causes. I am a great supporter to heritage as
readers of this column will know, so I was delighted to accept the
invitation of Loyd Grossman, the Chairman of the Churches Conservation
Trust, to speak at their annual conference last week. The Trust helps
to maintain historic churches no longer in use as places of worship,
like St Mary’s at Capel Le Ferne. The conference was attended by many
of the volunteers who support the Trust, including some from our area.
You can find out more about their work at www.visitchurches.org.uk.