At the moment one question, more than any other, exercises my political mind.  What happens to our country when the economy is finally “rebalanced”?

The Chancellor, George Osborne, is continuing to pursue his dismantling of the state economy with the stated intent of getting the national ‘books’ into surplus.  Cutting billions out of government spending, and selling off what little remains of state holdings in private enterprise, he expects that we will have a surplus of several billions per annum by 2018.  Assuming he is right, of course, what I really want to know is what do the Conservatives want to do with that surplus: what is their long-term vision for our country, our state funded society, beyond that date?

Will they restore cuts in benefits?  Will they overhaul, modernise and reinforce our justice system?  Will we get bigger pensions, more schools, better funded local government?  My instinct is that the answer to all these questions is ‘No’.  I believe they see the rump of the public sector forever small, dealing only with unprofitable parts of statutory provisions, while we are increasingly driven into the arms of the private sector for health care, education, housing, and so on.

I think they should tell us, don’t you?