Anti-cuts demonstration, then what?

I won't be marching against the cuts today, I'll be out campaigning against AV.  I hope the march goes well, I suspect that the TUC will be better organised and more sensible than the NUS when it comes to police liaison and marshaling.

Labour will be pushing their fantasy of a painless way to sort out the economy.  They say that they would only reduce the deficit by half over the same time period that the Government is planning to clear it, this implies that they would be able to bring in cuts at only half the current level.  This is of course rubbish.  Getting back into financial balance slowly will mean that much more national debt interest will need to be paid, doubling the payback period doesn't half the monthly repayment, try it out in any loan calculator.

It will be interesting to see what alternatives the speakers at the event put forward, the Labour mantra of "too deep, too quick" is a snappy but meaningless soundbite, they concede that cuts have to be made but refuse to say where they would cut.  Labour and the TUC are trying to pretend that there is an alternative but as Greece and Portugal show failing to balance the books at a national level has dire consequences, far more painful than anything the Government is putting forward.