Rugby voters speak on Government handling of the recession

Rugby Conservatives are carrying out regular surveys. The subject for December and January has been the recession and the Government's proposals to deal with it. The aim was to find out about Rugby people's views and listen to their opinions.

The survey was carried out between 1st December 2008 and 15th January online, on the doorstep and by telephone.

Mark Pawsey, who is the Conservative Parliamentary Spokesman for Rugby explained:

"Britain is currently facing the biggest and most severe downturn in a generation. We wanted to see what people here in Rugby think about the Government's approach to dealing with the crisis. It's clear that a huge majority of Rugby people share the Conservatives' concern that the cut in VAT from 17.5% to 15% is an expensive failure. It was intended to encourage spending. However, at a time when many businesses are cutting their prices by 20,30 and even 50%, a two and a half percent change is insignificant and no incentive at all to spend. It simply creates a reduction in the Government's income of £12.5 billion which Rugby people realise will need to be made up by tax increases later on."

Mark added:

"There is a feeling here in Rugby that at this time of economic difficulty the Government should live more within its means. One way it can do this is to reduce spending on major projects such as the introduction of Identity Cards, which will cost £19 billion. Many people said to us that they were having to cut back in these difficult times, so why shouldn't the Government do the same?"

Mark concluded:

"The Government's approach to a problem caused by too much debt is to create even more debt. According to the Government's own figures the national debt is set to double to over a trillion pounds in just five years. People we spoke to asked us to explain how big this sum is. They were surprised to learn that it is a number one with twelve noughts after it, or one million million. National debt of this magnitude means that every child in Britain is born owing £17,000. By a huge majority, Rugby voters are concerned about this, and rightly so."