Letter: W J Blundell November 10, 2017

This government has made an ideological choice not to fund spending on the NHS, social care and public spending services. Austerity has been nothing less than a smokescreen for ideological positions.

They tell us there is no money. This is untrue in a sovereign currency-issuing country like the UK. Assuming we have the real resources and the productive capacity, the government could spend tomorrow on those things we care about and which are fundamental to a healthy economy and the wellbeing of citizens. It’s really a shame that the public has been deceived by such arguments that suggest the state finances are like our own household budgets. They are not. So while government continues to tell us that they have to get the country’s finances in order, the economy continues to bump along the bottom, private household debt continues to rise and our public and social infrastructure continues to decay. There is an alternative and it starts by understanding the deceit and lies Conservative base everything on. Ideology is not what is needed.