David Cameron is offering 'the same tired menu' of public sector cuts

9 April 2010

David Cameron is like a third-rate Master Chef contestant offering up the same tired menu of public expenditure cuts as his so-called recipe for economic recovery, Unite, the largest union, said today (Friday, 9 April).

Unite was commenting on the Tory plans of how they will cut £12bn of public spending, which commentators say could cost 40,000 public sector jobs.

Gail Cartmail, Unite assistant general secretary for the Public Sector said: 'David Cameron is like a third rate Master Chef contestant with his staid menu of ingredients for cuts, and more cuts.'

'The British people value their public services – they are looking for haute cuisine in this area, not the deflated soufflé of despair that David Cameron and his friends in the City wish to serve up. The Tory menu is, frankly, unappetising.'

'What the Conservatives fail to realise is that local government in particular, and the public sector generally, are economic generators in their own right.'

'In a number of cities as many as two thirds of the economically active are employed in the public sector and the impact of such cuts would be devastating to local economies.'

A recent BBC survey suggested that at least 25,000 council jobs in England would be under threat in the next three to five years. The forecast was based on answers from 49 councils with a combined workforce of 256,000, suggesting cuts of 10%.