I'm not so convinced. Borrowing money is a classic way to make more money if it is invested correctly. With the rock bottom interest rates for government borrowing it is a great time to borrow to invest in the future (through infrastructure, education, even welfare generally boosts the economy because the poorest in society rapidly recycle the money back into the economy). In my opinion it is still the right time to be running a deficit budget as long as the money is being used sensibly.

But a recession is a good time for everybody to tighten their belts, and this shouldn't just be the role of the middle classes. However, there will always be some debate about the best way to implement these austerity measures. Some of the policies of the government have been cruel - back to work assessment have led to suicides and self-harm among some of the most vulnerable in society. At the same time people in full time employment aged over 60 continue to get free travel and discounts on heating. Tax on petrol has not risen, despite prices at the pump dropping by 30% - surely another penny on petrol wouldn't hurt the economy.

I can't agree with the approach that says that all the countries problems would be solved if people claiming unemployment benefits were forced to have abortions. I think we could save much more money by corporations paying tax and banks having less subsidiaries off-shore. But the real waste of money is stuff like the Olympics or developing weapons of mass destruction on submarines that will never be used. Blaming the poor (or any other single cause) always seems a little too blinkered to me.