After four years of austerity I can safely say that the deficit is worse now than when I started as chancellor in 2010. I guess this is not surprising. Although 1 have slashed council budgets, I have been more than generous with the rest of the public sector. Even councils are wallowing in reserves. The NHS, of course, is a bottomless pit and I have no choice but to shovel buckets of money down its gaping throat. Ditto with education. As for old people, so long as the Prime Minister insists on protecting their fat pensions and benefits because he needs their votes, then I've no hope of cutting the welfare budget. As for getting to grips with housing benefit - forget it! So long as house prices keep rocketing.
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