Who ever would have guessed such an outcome? The big talk of "compassionate conservatism" is whatever PR spin Cameron used suddenly sounds as ridiculous as it sounded in the US under Bush. That said, at least Cameron had the decency to ask ministers to take pay cuts themselves while paring down the budget elsewhere. Also of note is how few women there are in the new government. It seems pathetic though the right wing UK government isn't the only government lacking in such regard. The Guardian:
Treasury officials have targeted child benefit payments for the middle classes under plans for sweeping cuts to bring the £164bn deficit under control.
The cuts are among proposals being presented to the new Conservative and Liberal Treasury team as it emerged that new policy commitments in the coalition agreement may have added up to £10bn to the government's spending bill.
The Guardian has learned that the Treasury has for months been drawing up plans for cuts of more than 15% in the all departments other than the NHS and international development, where spending has been ring-fenced.
