The Treasury blame game

The Treasury gets accused of not spending enough on school roofs, on health to cut the waiting lists, on local government and social care, on subsidising battery factories and steel plants, and these are corralled together to blame it for the deep structural problems in the British economy. But are these really the Treasury’s fault? There may be issues with how the Treasury functions – for example, its focus on cash, and on siloed cost–benefit analysis undertaken government department by department. But these are details that could be sorted out. What really matters is that the Treasury faces the unenviable task of holding the fiscal line when faced with huge demands for more and more spending, on almost everything. It is not only the usual suspects above, but net zero, immigration, and bailing out local government as well. Neither political party is suggesting that taxes are going to go up to pay for all this. Unless and until we understand that we have to pay, and that we have to start living within our economic and environmental means in the sustainable economy, then we need to stop blaming the Treasury for our cake-ism. Ultimately, it is us and our unsustainable economy that are at fault.