Our City panel is worried about the public purse
HUGE FEARS over the state of the public finances underpin our panel’s view that the government should cut spending soon after the general election. The majority of panelists (59 per cent) said they were very worried about the public finances, while 32 per cent said they were fairly worried. Just eight per cent of respondents said they were not especially worried, while one per cent said they were not worried at all.
The vast majority of panelists (77 per cent) said the next government should cut public spending immediately after a general election, while 18 per cent said it should wait until 2011. A further four per cent thought it should wait until 2012 or beyond.
All too often, the City is a constituency that is ignored by the politicians and mainstream media. That’s why we’ve launched the City A.M./PHI Panel, which has been specially recruited to represent a cross-section of London’s business and financial community. To apply to join the panel, fill in the application form at www.cityam.com/panel and we’ll email you a short question next time we launch a survey.
• PoliticsHome.com, City A.M.’s partner, interviewed 426 panelists by email yesterday.
COMMENTS | A SELECTION OF OUR PANELIST VIEWS – THANKS TO ALL FOR SHARING YOUR VIEWS
• “Whichever party comes into power will have to present an immediate plan to cut the deficit, or it will be forced on them by the markets.”
• “A true budget deficit number should include PFI liabilities and pension deficits.”
• “There should be no ring-fenced areas of spending, poor value exists in all services.”
• “The country is drowning in debt; servicing it alone costs a fortune. It must be cut immediately, and so must taxes to stimulate growth.”
• “Give the recovery some more momentum first. Reckless cuts could be just as damaging as reckless spending.”
• “A hung parliament … will quite likely result in a loss of our AAA rating, further weakening of the exchange rate, and reduction of the UK to a banana republic. It’s easier to avoid such a fate than it is to correct it once it’s happened.”