Back to the 40s backdated!

 The fact that the Institute for Fiscal Studies agrees with the Office for Budget Responsibilty that accelerating the "pace of spending cuts from 2.3% ...to 3.7%" after 2016 will shrink state services back to a level not seen since 1948 works out very conveniently for the Tories. (Osborne`s austerity will leave living standards lower in 2015, say experts,07/12/13)  By then, Gove`s  reforms will have made necessary a two-tier system of education, just like the one we had back in the 1940s; 30% of pupils will be attending academies focusing on academic examinations, and 70% will be attending schools with a more practical curriculum. They probably won`t be calling them "grammar schools" and "secondary moderns" but that is what they`ll be.They might even be providing free milk, as so many would-be recruits for the armed forces will have failed their medical examinations, and the CBI will have started to complain about the increasing number of days lost to sick-leave.

    Apparently, Osborne thinks long-term growth can be achieved by reacapturing the "pioneering spirit" of the industrial revolution era, so this time it`s the 1840s! I`m sure voters can`t wait for the return of workhouses, massive exploitation of workers, poverty pay, trade unions banned by law, non-existent women`s rights and a total disregard for health and safety issues.

     In view of this, "Back to the 40s with the Tories" sounds a sensible Labour election slogan, but it will only have the desired effect if voters can see that Labour won`t take them back there as well!