- Location
- Lincolnshire
I recognise this description, because these were the arguments arrayed against Welsh devolution 20 years ago.
Two points arise:
1. In the light of subsequent experience, what I've learnt is that devolution improves outcomes for us because it improves local accountability. That's why no one (save a few right wing extremists) wishes to abandon devolution, and why it has been a success.
If it costs more, so be it.
2. The fear of wasting money is typically an English preoccupation, being part of the national character. Policies as diverse as defence, education, foreign aid, all are permeated with this fear, somehow, of money being spent.
Is it, perhaps, a function of national decline?
I'm not advocating profligacy, but I notice that no other nationality abroad appears so preoccupied with the cost of things.
It's not so much a fear of money being spent but a fear of the money running out.
Running a small business with nobody to bail us out if we run out of money does instil a sense of caution and an aversion to wasting money. Ultimately this same situation applies to the economy. While you can say "if it costs more than so be it" if it costs more than you can reasonably recoup through taxation then you truly are into a spiral of decline. You can only extend loans and credit for so long but one day people might decide they don't want to lend to the government anymore. The government becomes bankrupt and cannot pay all those lovely public salaries and pensions never mind fund services. If you think it can't happen look at Greece.