Which Government Is Best?

As if any of you didn't know, there is a general election coming up in May, and this one really does matter. The way things are shaped now, we could end up having our first hung Parliament.

But, this is still uncertain. The Tories could still form the next government, but if they carry on losing the points they gained from Labour, they could still be in power by next May.

My personal opinion is that if the Conservatives win, they could do a lot of damage to an already fragile window industry. The reason? They want to cut like there's no tomorrow. They think the best option is to plunge the economy into the next age of austerity. If they carry out their planned immediate swingeing cuts, we can say goodbye to any sort of consumer confidence. They will be putting the recovery at risk.

Labour on the other hand have said they will put back any major spending cuts for another year. There is logic behind this. Providing the economy grows during that year, any extra GDP the country makes will go towards shrinking the budget deficit, which is the main issue. Once the economy has become stable, cuts can be made without plunging the country back into major problems. From the window industry's point of view, this has to be the best way to go about things. To make immediate cut backs now will kill consumer confidence and eradicate any ground gained.

I don't want this to sound like a party political broadcast, but doing it Labour's way has a lot less risk for the double glazing industry. Things are hard enough as it is, we don't need it any worse.

Going back to the hung Parliament situation. I'm not confident enough that the MP's will be able to form a fully functioning, efficient Government. There is too much squabbling, and the task of picking a leader to run the coalition Government could be an impossible one. Moreover, the task of dealing with the deficit could become more difficult. Half of the Government would support immediate cost cutting, the other may not.

I know who I'm voting for!