The problems have not been caused by the current crisis; the current crisis has simply exacerbated them. Maggie Thatcher abolished the State Earnings Related Pension Scheme (SERPS) (which was on a far more modest scale than current public sector pensions) because the pensions it provided were "not affordable".

Why does the statutory redundancy pay scheme limit benefits to one week's pay for each year of service with an absolute cap? Because Government knows that the private sector could not afford any more and the state can't afford to pick up a bigger bill if businesses are insolvent and unable to pay.

Why are these obvious limitations ignored when it comes to the public sector?

The mentality of deciding to spend money and then worrying later about whether it is good value for money and where it is going to come from must go.

I have said in the past in my Blog that when Government spends money the electorate as a whole has to pay the piper. There are not enough wealthy people to tax out of existence (or more likely out of the country) to meet the bill. This has been amply demonstrated again in the recent budget by the increase in VAT.

Government owe it to all of us to:

• raise the minimum amount necessary in taxation to run essential services and protect the weak and vulnerable
• in the course of doing that decide what the country can and can't afford
• always obtain good value for money for the amount spent
• ensure that people are always better off by working
• create an economy where entrepreneurs have the right incentive to create wealth and jobs
• be open and transparent.

What's more, they need to do this in good times and bad, and put away funds in the good times so that spending cuts or increased taxation are not necessary in the bad times.

Why do Government appear to believe that these are things that they only have to do in times of extreme financial crisis?

If politicians were the non-executive directors of 'Business Britain' then the electorate as shareholders of 'Business Britain' might have found them sadly lacking throughout the forty years that I have been part of the Birmingham business community.

If the current economic crisis does result in a different approach, with all expenditure being looked at critically, then it may indeed be worth the pain that we are currently going through.