Devon and Cornwall Police warn Government cuts of 20 percent over 4 years will mean 700 fewer police on the beat and cuts of 300 in support staff. The reductions will take police numbers in Devon and Cornwall down to levels last seen in 2003 before Labour boosted police numbers to cut crime.At the same time the Government appears determined to impose elected police commissioners on an unenthusiastic public. That will waste another 1.3 million for the elections alone (the equivalent of 50 officers) and then there will be support staff and salaries on top. How will an elected police commissioner be able to represent properly the very diverse communities of Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly?I am also concerned that this will lead to the politicisation of the police, ending centuries of independence. It’s clear that Liberal Democrats, including those in the South West don’t support this, but like so many of the damaging things this Government is doing they look set to just nod it through.

The Con-Lib Government’s policies already appear to be having a highly negative impact on economic growth – notwithstanding David Cameron’s warm words to the CBI today.

It’s widely predicted that tomorrow’s provisional growth figures for the 3rd quarter will show a dramatic slowing from the first half of the year.
This will be as a direct result of the disastrous emergency budget after the election and retrenchment by individuals, private and public bodies and the rest of the Government’s relentlessly pessimistic austerity gloom.
This is exactly what Labour and most economists have been warning about. Cut too far and too deep and you hit growth, costs jobs and ensure the long terms cost of reducing the deficit is greater than it need have been.
What is particularly scary about the Government’s approach is they don’t appear to have a plan B. They appear lashed to the mast of fiscal austerity whatever happens – even if growth continues to plummet.

How long can the Liberal Democrats – who were out and proud Keynesians before the election – continue to stomach such madness?

Devon and Cornwall will be among the worst hit counties in England by Wednesday’s comprehensive spending review according to today’s Financial Times.

This confirms something some of us have been saying for some time, that because of our large elderly population, relatively low wages and higher than average proportion of public sector jobs the Westcountry will be hit hard by the ConLib Government’s policies.
The elderly tend to use public services like the NHS and social care more, so are likely to be more affected by cuts to these services. Also, people on low incomes depend on Government support in the form of tax credits or pension credit so will be hit more by cuts to the welfare budget.

At the same time, with the Government’s spin machine going into overdrive in the last few days – briefing out that schools spending will be protected as well as the NHS and cuts in defence less severe than expected, I wonder whether the Government’s bloodcurdling warnings of the last few months have been some massive softening up exercise, so that when the numbers are announced, they won’t be as ghastly as everyone’s expecting. If they protect more areas, they are either going to hit the unprotected departments even harder or admit that Labour has been right all along and the speed and degree of deficit reduction is not just unnecessary, but potentially damaging.

The Conservative-Liberal Government’s softening up exercise for next week’s budget continues without shame.

Although this week’s report from the new independent Office for Budgetary Responsibility reported UK borrowing to be lower and tax receipts higher than the Labour Government predicted in March’s budget, the ConLibs continue with their fiction that having opened the books they have found things to be much worse than they feared, as an excuse for the cuts the Tories have wanted to make regardless.

The nobel prize-winning economist, Joe Stiglitz, the Financial Times’ veteran economics columnist, Martin Wolf, and several others have repeated their warnings that the ConLibs’ policy risks stifling growth, reducing demand and tipping us back into recession - as well of course of pushing unemployment far higher than it would otherwise have been.

This is the crazy policy one expects from the Tories but it is extraordinary that the Lib Dems appear to have meekly swallowed it. Keynes must be turning in his grave!

Another short-sighted and wrong-headed decision by the Government was their announcement today to abolish the Regional Development Agencies.

These provided a much needed strategic development body that could rise above the petty turf wars and nimbyism of some local athorities and ensure that investment, particularly in major infrastructure projects, happened in those places where it was most needed and provided maximum benefit to the region as a whole. It looks like a return to the bad old days of “buggins’ turn” or where those local authorities with the loudest voice or closest friends in Government skew decision making.

Exeter’s 36 year campaign to have its unitary council status restored cleared its final parliamentary hurdles this week.

In a hotly contested debate on Monday in the House of Lords, an attempt by Liberal Democrat Peers to kill the legislation was overwhelmingly defeated.

A motion from the Cross Bench Peer Lady Butler Sloss expressing regret at the move and asking for a further delay was passed, but not with as big a majority as had been expected.

The only other two cross benchers who spoke, supported Exeter’s case, as did the Labour Peers Lord (Larry) Whitty and Baroness (Brenda) Dean.

The orders was also approved easily both in committee and on the floor in the House of Commons.

It was a great tribute to the hard work of everyone in Exeter over so many years. An all-party delegation from the city last week, led by Conservative Lord Mayor Cllr John Winterbottom and including Lib Dem, Liberal and Labour councillors did a brilliant job at persuading cross bench and Tory Peers not to support the fatal amendment.

Now that the orders for both Exeter and Norwich have been approved by Parliament, after lengthy debate in both Houses and are law, it is far less likely that the outstanding legal challenge by Norfolk and Devon will succeed. Parliament is sovereign and the courts are usually very reluctant to overturn such a strong democratic mandate.

Also, one of the effects of the legislation has been to postpone the city council elections that were due to take place in one third of Exeter wards in May in order to hold all out elections to the new unitary authority next year.

So those councillors who would have faced elections in May have been told they can continue for one more year. By the time the court sits it will be too late to reinstate those elections so the court will want to be very mindful indeed of the consequences of any ruling on the democratic process.

Meanwhile David Cameron has been embarrassing his local parliamentary candidate in Exeter today telling local Tories they were wrong to support Exeter’s bid. Cameron is either incredibly ill-informed or astonishingly insensitive or both.

Exeter Tory leader Yolanda Henson has fought for years for unitary status and was ably supported by John Winterbottom, Norman Shiel and Jeff Coates among others for last week’s lobby of the Lords.

Cameron said a Tory Government would reverse the decision. But as doing so would require primary legislation could anyone really see an incoming Tory government making this their first priority and upsetting Exeter Conservatives in the process?

When can we expect the Conservative parliamentary candidate to finally speak up for Exeter, support local Conservative councillors and call publicly for her national party to allow Exeter to fulfil its ambition and call on Tory-run Devon County Council to drop its costly and futile legal shenanigans?