The Lib Dems and the deficit debate

Patrick Wintour today makes an interesting points about Vince Cable and the deficit debate. In a very well argued contribution this week, Mr Cable set out his views about just how we should set about the immediate task of halving the deficit. Here is the exchange in Hansard

Mr. Byrne:

The hon. Gentleman is making an excellent speech, but I think it would be useful at this point in the debate, since we have heard from the Government and official Opposition Front Benches on this subject, to ask him whether in his judgment the reduction in the deficit in the first year of the Government’s plan should be faster, or whether the Government have broadly judged it right?

Dr. Cable: I do not think we should rush into rapid cuts. One of my areas of disagreement with the hon. Member for Runnymede and Weybridge is that I do not think there is a strong case for that. It is a difficult issue and there is a balance to be struck, but rushing into expenditure cuts in 2010-11 would carry a greater risk of precipitating deeper recession. My party takes the view that the Government’s eight-year plan, with a four-year halving of the deficit, is a reasonable starting point. My judgment is that we will probably discover that it is not enough, but we have to start somewhere, and it is a reasonable working assumption.