Education - Tories Promise Cuts, Lib Dems Promise Class Size Cuts
April 24, 2009 12:00 AM
Interviewed on the Today programme on BBC Radio 4 David Cameron again refused to rule out spending cuts on schools. The Conservative Policy is in stark contrast to Liberal Democrat Plans to cut infant class sizes to 15.
Asked about public spending and what he meant by the politics of austerity Cameron said
"What it means? We're gonna have to try and get more for less. I think In terms of public spending it means we're going to have to stop focusing endlessly on the inputs, how much investment the government is putting in"
Pressed later in the interview David Cameron repeatedly refused to say where he would cut spending, beyond a few high profile IT projects like the ID card.
"Its really clear that the Conservatives are planning cuts and that these will take us back to the bad old days of the 1980s and 1990s when the Tories sweated public assets and failed to properly maintain schools and hospitals.
"Many of us can remember the bad old days under the last Conservative Government, water poured through classroom roofs and the electricity had to be switched off for safety every time it rained, because there wasn't enough money to properly maintain the roof"
says one local teacher.
"It is essential for the life chances of our children, and for the economic prosperity of our country that we drive up the educational attainment of all of our children.
"With this policy the Liberal Democrats are delivering a flying start to for the next generation and showing in practical terms how we can start to deliver what Gordon Brown has only talked about, independent school levels of resourcing for every child,"
says Windsor Lib Dem Spokesman, Julian Tisi.