CONFIDENTIAL
3.
implications of implementing approved policies over the next 5 years will be. Insofar as I have any criticism it is that this form makes hard reading except for the initiated, and that it exposes such an immense amount of surface to those who do make the effort to master the material presented. The answer is that firstly in a territory over which such a large political question mark hangs, one cannot allow there to be any misunder- standing at all about what the financial policies and the financial situation really are, and secondly that if a population without an elected Government is to consent to taxes it must feel it is being given all the relevant facts. Since many of the more influential members of the population can handle figures like a computer, in this case 'all the facts' means just that. Naturally this takes one a long way from the highly political and selective presentation normal in Westminster.
I am not saying that others might not choose a different style, but there are strong and carefully thought out reasons why the style has been adopted and it is certainly appreciated here and in most expert circles elsewhere, and I think any change in style might now make people wonder if we were covering up a new and undesirable situation.
So far we have been fairly successful in maintaining a rising level of public expenditure in real terms (your para. 4, last sentence). An increase of 38% in real
7.
C
terms in 4 years which included an exceptionally deep recession is quite an achievement, as was the increase of 15% in real terms this year over last. The increase for expenditure in real terms from 1971/72 to '77/78 the 6-year period during which as it so happens Philip has been Financial Secretary and I have been Governor · is even more striking: 85% in General Account (i.e. excluding Housing and Urban Council) and 93% in the Consolidated Account (which includes both). But I feel sure you will have made these obvious points to the Secretary of State when he recorded his interest in a rising level of expenditure. The Appendices to the Estimates show the
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.