Cheap votes

Playing the anti-austerity card really is a cheap trick – now maybe, but not into the future.

It may resonate with many who believe that the relatively minor austerity measures (in comparison with Greece, Ireland and others) taken by the current coalition, coupled with what is now a real recovery from the dire position that the last Labour government left us in, have not resulted in a feel-good factor for them.

I do accept that not everyone is feeling obvious benefits, but one thing that is clear is that everyone suffered from the collapse in 2008 that led to the necessity for these desperate measures to be introduced in the first place.

Are memories so short? For the SNP, and to a lesser extent Labour, to suggest that we should begin again to spend our way out of the current position is simply to promote a cheap trick that will land the bill on generations to come.

Labour, under Gordon Brown, championed PFI and it is instructive, if not frightening, to look at its consequences of spending now and paying later.

How can parties be willing to put cheap votes ahead of these consequences? How do you run your household?

Ken Currie

Liberton Drive

Edinburgh