Budget 2013: The Frightening Lack of Ideas in Westminster

Freddy Barker is disappointed with the lack of fresh economic thinking, just as the UK economy most needs it

The spotlight is firmly on George Osborne. In 48 hours, he’ll deliver a budget amid economic flatlining and public volatility which, if it fails, will result in calls for the Chancellor’s head as he’s only created 0.7 per cent growth during his entire 34 month tenure.

That’s alarming as there’s a frightening lack of ideas in Wednesday’s shenanigans. The leaks so far suggest that Mark Carney targeting growth or unemployment is the most revolutionary policy that we can expect; yet isn’t creating a Deputy Chancellorship more about spreading the blame come the 2015 election than sparking a second industrial revolution?

Is even the prime minister bored by the UK’s economic debate?

As a British citizen, I find the whole episode deeply disappointing. The country’s back is against the wall and so the public are desperate for a politician to try something new. Yet all the House of Commons offers is supply side economics versus demand side economics, a yawningly repetitious argument which isn’t simply Osborne’s fault: it’s Cable’s, as Business Secretary, it’s Balls’, as Shadow Chancellor, it’s the mandarins’, it’s academia’s, it’s all of our fault.

Yes, the next few days will be marked by political manoeuvring – Labour will, for example, scream about Osborne playing to the rich by chopping corporation tax from 28p to 21p and giving 13,000 millionaires a £100,000 tax cut – yet the focus should be on the failure in the collective imagination.

The UK is crying out for fresh ideas and so more news time should be given to the likes of Douglas Carswell MP, who, in the Guardian, is quoted as calling for a dramatic reduction in Whitehall which would allow for £26 billion in tax cuts, including cutting corporation tax to 11 per cent and capital gains tax to 0 per cent.

You may think the policies are barmy, but at least they’re different. Given the established thinking has produced little more than an economic murmur, pungent debate is needed.

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