When does a “saving” or an “efficiency measure” become a “cut”? What’s the difference between “investing in the economy” and “wasting taxpayers’ money”?

For decades, the Conservatives have argued that wasting money today leaves an unfair burden on the next generation. But all parties also agree that borrowing money for “investment” is different, because certain types of Government spending can lead to economic growth, which generates extra tax revenue.

What baffles me is that some politicians who espouse the concept of investing in “physical capital” (like roads, bridges, hospitals and broadband) seem incapable of recognising that “human capital” works in the same way.

Investing in children produces happier, healthier adults who give more to the economy than they take out. But the Conservatives have cut children’s services to the bone and now we see record numbers of children suffering with mental illness, being excluded from school or being abused or neglected by the people who are meant to care for them. The cost of these problems far exceeds the original “savings”.

Investing in keeping adults healthy boosts the economy and reduces the burden of disease. But for a decade, the Conservatives froze the amount spent on health as a share of GDP, with preventative services being squeezed the hardest. The NHS is now in a downward spiral: 7.3-million patients are on waiting lists, but new patients are joining the queue faster than those ahead of them can be treated.

From 2013 to 2021, the Liberal Democrats running Cornwall Council repeatedly warned of the consequences of these cuts, especially to front-line Council services, but year after year our Conservative MPs voted to inflict more austerity on Cornwall. 

In 2021, the Conservatives took control of Cornwall Council, promising to get more money out of the Conservative Government. It was an empty promise: After winning the election, the cuts continued. Leisure centres were closed; museum funding was cut; and road maintenance was slashed. As the long-term consequences of these short-sighted cuts become impossible to ignore, the Conservative Government has now moved into expensive sticking-plaster solutions. For example Cornwall has now been given £5-million to fill potholes, but not a penny for resurfacing roads or emptying drains, so next year’s potholes will be worse than ever! 

The evidence is clear: Thirteen years of Conservative cuts have had an enormous cost. Yet even as they throw short-term cash at the symptoms, they continue to ignore the root causes. Our taxes are higher than ever, but every public service is on the brink of collapse. The ideology of austerity has completely failed: The Cornish Conservative MPs and Councillors who supported it must be replaced by Liberal Democrats who will invest in a more sustainable future for Cornwall.