well no, not really

benefit spending is 4 or 5 times as large as debt interest spending. So a chunky increase in unemployment - like what happens when you lose a million jobs - can be just as big as a substnatial increase in interest payments.

And like I say, health spending - which is another big chunk of government spending - is gonna be rising pretty rapidly I imagine, given it was 'protected'. (Don't have the figures to hand though.)

So if overall spending is only growing by 1 or 2% a year, but within that health spending - a big chunk - is growing by, say 7 or 8% a year (that's a guess) - then other things have to be cut back pretty aggressively.

Posted By: Tricky Hawes, Nov 19, 16:01:34