British Prime Minister Cameron To Cut Taxes and Government Spending

In October 2010, Britain unveiled an austerity plan that scaled back the size of government, reduced welfare benefits, shrunk the size of their armed forces, and raised the retirement age for British citizens. As the LA Times reported, the plan cut “almost everything but healthcare.”

And now, in July 2012, although the British economy is still seeing red, Prime Minister David Cameron says he will not be changing the financial approach he’s taken. Rather, he says the program of spending cuts which was initially to last five years will probably last ten instead.

Moreover, although he is facing pressure to reverse course, or at least to change it up somewhat, he is insisting he can both stay the course and make “Conservative” financial changes along the way: “[Staying the course] doesn’t mean that you can’t cut people’s taxes…You can do exciting and radical and Conservative things at the same time as having difficult overall spending choices.”

I don’t know if President Obama is listening, but Prime Minister Cameron is saying it’s okay to cut taxes and government spending at the same time.