Whoever, or whatever coalition or mix we finish up with in May, they will have a fiscal mountain to climb.
I think there is a serious possibility that SDSR will be delayed until 2016.
You should be so lucky!!
I think it vanishingly unlikley that Defence, with such fragile public support post Afghan, will not be an early major target - and that doesn't mean waiting 'til 2016 unfortunately.
All the Pollies at the moment are fighting shy of addressing or even acknowledging the extent of the Defecit and its seriousness.
Listen in Best Beloveds, because - without being patronising - many (most?) seem not to know the difference between Debt and Defecit.
Debt is what you owe, Defecit is all about cashflow - and we've all been there (I certainly have!) Say you earn £3k a month, but you're spending £3.5k. Whatever you actually owe, that £500 is your defecit. And we get over it temporarily with the help of the plastic or a nice Bank Manager. (and we haven't touched the Debt)
Temporarily is the key - it cannot be sustained. At present, even in so-called "austerity" and with supposed actual and planned "cuts", UK plc is spending about £3k
per second more than its income, or if you'd prefer, £10.9M per hour, £250M+ per day. Between now and 7th May that's nearly
£33Bn of just defecit, not a penny reducing the debt, not a penny contributing to servicing that increasing debt.
One is not optimistic against that background, at how successfully MoD will be able to compete against NHS and DHSS.
And cynical
moi still doesn't expect any Pollie to come clean on the Defecit until 8th May when - foolishly - someone will have a guaranteed 5-year tenure .......