T he ongoing Greek negotiations with Europe and recent comments from the Scottish National Party bring the topic of austerity into the forefront. But they talk about austerity as if it were a policy of choice. It is not.

Far from being a policy, austerity is an outcome. It is the direct result of poor management of the nation’s finances. It is a position that governments get into because they failed to manage their economy properly, failed to tackle waste and corruption and made poor policy decisions spending the public’s money. Any household with tight finances knows only too well that cutting back on expenditure is not a choice but a necessity.

That household also knows that the answer to tight finances will never be “spend more!”

Austerity-related policy decisions come about by deciding where to spend what little money we have, and how we prioritise our public services.

But austerity does not drive every policy decision. Benefits, for example, needed to be reformed for a whole raft of reasons. Having spoViewfrom Westminster ken recently with Kidderminster’s Job Centre Plus, I learn that Universal Credit cannot be rolled out fast enough – it is a pragmatic and forward-thinking solution.

With our health system, the Government has not just ringfenced the NHS budget – it has increased expenditure. The recent row about a “crisis” in the NHS would lead people to believe that it was in meltdown.

It is certainly the case that A&E targets were not being met, but at the worst point nine out of 10 A&E patients were admitted, treated and discharged (or moved to further treatment) in under four hours (the target is 19 out of 20).

Whilst it is right to be self-critical and aspire to standards of excellence, it is also right to occasionally look at what the rest of the world sees. The International Commonwealth Fund survey of the top 11 developed nations found the English NHS to be the best in the world in terms of patient care, outcomes and satisfaction.

Importantly, this survey has seen England come top as a direct result of changes over the last five years – in marked contrast to the Welsh NHS.

CONTACT YOUR MP

  • Email: mark.garnier.mp@parliament.uk
  • Telephone: 020 7219 7198 or 01562 746771
  • Write: 9a Lower Mill Street, Kidderminster, DY11 6UU, or House of Commons, Westminster, London