The budget- it's all bad, right?

OK, so the budget is horrible. Cuts in public spending are never going to be nice. But over the last couple of days I keep feeling the urge to say ‘money doesn’t grow on trees’. The idea that we’re spending more on the interest payments of our debt than we are on education is just wrong. Something had to change.

From my point of view, there are bits of the budget that I like, and other parts I’m not so keen on. I like the fact that the libdem commitment to increase the tax-free allowance (which takes 800,000 people out of paying tax at all) has now become reality. I’m also really pleased the earnings link for pensions has been re-instated. For Hull, the backdated port tax being scrapped is fantastic news. But the impact of some of the benefits changes will need to be monitored really carefully, as will the necessity of the full extent of the proposed cuts.

What concerns me is that Cameron and Osborne are ideologically committed to cuts and a much smaller state. I am not so ideologically committed, and I think the libdem influence in the coalition has to tame the ideological commitment.

What I am clear about, however, is that the challenges posed by the budget are here to stay, and it is up to all of us to make the most of the opportunities it presents. It means that many aspects of government are going to need radical rethinking, not just tinkering at the edges.

For example, the defence review needs to look at options for radically reforming our armed forces to create a force that is tailored to today’s world and its threats, not the threats of 20 years ago. This should include looking at whether we still need the army, navy and RAF as separate services.

There are also opportunities to deliver more localism. The Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats may come at this from different angles, but there are potential savings from delivering services in a more joined up way locally, at the same time as tailoring them to local people’s needs and making them more accountable to the people they serve.

I like the fact that Clegg and Cameron have written to public sector workers asking them to put suggest ideas for saving money- the government may be in control of the big decisions, but often the people doing the job are the ones that know where the opportunities for change are, and we should all help out where we can.