The true scale of the cuts

George Osborne likes to spend his weekends at Dorneywood, the chancellor’s official residence near Slough, but I doubt this one will be  particularly enjoyable. He will be burning the midnight oil as he prepares next Wednesday’s spending review. No doubt he will also be taking calls from ministerial colleagues, muttering dark threats about aircraft carriers, the arts, sport, the roads budget, overseas consulates – you name it. And just when the numbers all add up he will probably have to start all over again after discovering that No10 has  promised to save some wind turbines because Steve Hilton bumped into somebody at a drinks party.
 
Meanwhile, we can expect a  great caterwauling to be got up in the press as various interest groups, retired admirals, Mumsnet, “the disabled,” etc, wave their bloody stumps, pleading for exemption from “the cuts”. My advice is to take a deep breath and to take it all with a generous pinch of salt.