Lewis I hear what you say but would ask the question, here does the concept that if winning the Conservatives will incresae austerity measures?
No country shold live beyonds it's means and, just as a household has to match outgoings with income than gov should do the same.
There are many parts of any gov budget thta can be cut without the electorate suffering.
A snap poll here in Oz shows that 60% would prefer the gov to cut services, apart from social ones, in order to bring the budget back to balance.
The easiest for any gov is to cut hand outs to immigrants who would take gov money rather than work.