Everyone wants to cut public spending, right?

Fraser’s back and forth with the estimable Danny Finkelstein about public spending and the Tories is excellent stuff. Fraser concludes by saying that, regardless of tactical differences, on a strategic level “we’re all cutters now”. And of course in one sense he’s right: anyone who wins the election is going to have to be prepared to be unpopular. Perhaps very unpopular.

And are we all cutters anyway? In the abstract yes, but not when it comes to any given project or department or priority. Consider this chart which though from a Pew survey in the United States would, I suspect, be mirrored by any comparable British poll. Pew asked voters if they wanted to see spending increased or decreased or stay the same in various departments:

Most popular

Matthew Lynn

Spain will regret its 100 per cent expat property tax