Enigma variations?

The results of an ICM poll released today make for interesting reading. The revelation that most people think the quality of public services has not changed or even improved since the government cuts, suggests that our need for them is not as great as we have been given to believe. As with any statistics though, we need to delve a little further beneath the headlines. Of all the various sectors analysed, it is only road repairs which people deem to have deteriorated. That is interesting. It suggests to me that more people are having to travel further to gain employment. We have been told by motoring organisations that the rising tide of petrol prices has led to fewer leisure trips being made and an overall reduction in the numbers of vehicles on the road. The latter is relative though. The numbers may have decreased somewhat but the overall number remains ridiculously high. The people surveyed also point to a rising dissatisfaction with the care of our elderly. The problem here is that the numbers of our elderly continues to rise almost exponentially as medical advances ensure greater longevity. Nobody is arguing against their care because that is obviously of paramount importance. The point here is simply to identify how much it is going to cost and, more to the point, where the money is going to come from. That is a big question because to do it properly means cuts will be inevitable in another area unless we bite the bullet and revisit the business of pensions and taxation - neither of which tend to do very well when it comes to votes at General Elections. As they say, a turkey doesn't vote for Christmas. The problem will not be going away though so it would be better if it was properly addressed sooner rather than later. If it is ignored, the true cost will just go through the roof. At a time when the incumbent government is making noises about increasing GP opening hours from 8am until 8pm, its interesting to note that 70% of the respondents think the GP service is the same or better than it was before the government cuts started. Perhaps the current Health Secretary needs to look at this figure and go back to the drawing board?. On a positive note, it is good to see that 75% of respondents feel recycling is as good if not better than before - this is of crucial importance to all our futures. The next step will be to rein in the amount of needless packaging being used by the dreaded supermarkets because that would reduce the need for so much recycling. The figures in the survey are of course very general and don't take account of regional variations. The overall figures though do tell a story and it suggests, if anything, that people are adapting to leading lives less dependent on public services. In this way, the Welsh Assembly government may be on to something. Yesterday they announced their budget in which the money for Local Government is to be slashed as more money is fed in to Primary and Secondary Care in the NHS where the figures suggest it is most needed. This might just be the the beginning of the end for the State reliance which has defined our country for far too long. When Maggie Thatcher spoke of us as a nation of shopkeepers, she referred to a time in our past when we engaged in free enterprise and made our livings within the communities where we lived. Who would bet against a return to that sort of picture?