I'm generally in favour of mild ignorance. A nation where the average citizen takes an obsessive interest in politics sounds exhausting best, dystopian at worst. Voters are busy people with children to shepherd and TV shows to stream. This is why they elect politicians and hope that structures are in place that force them to do good.
Still, it was a little dispiriting to come across apoll by Portland, which found that a quarter of respondents believe that MPs' expenses fell in the top three of things the government spends money on. Not even close.
In 2022–23,government spending was almost £1,200bn, or around 45 per cent of GDP. Health came top, accounting for 18.3 per cent, or roughly £212bn. This was followed by pensions (£141bn), working age and child benefits (£118bn) and education (£106bn).
MPs' expenses in 2020-21came to £138m, or 0.01 per cent of government spending. By the way, given that 90 per cent of that was for staffing and office costs, we may in fact wish to increase it, so that MPs can afford experienced hires, rather than recent graduates.
Separately, more than a quarter of respondents thought that spending on migrants and asylum seekers came in the top three. But, again, at £4bn, it represents only 0.3 per cent of total government spending. For more detailed analysis, see tax expert Dan Neidle’s post.
What this tells is is the public largely has no idea what the government spends its money on. This represents both a challenge and an opportunity for ministers. A smart administration can leverage public ignorance to raise taxes they may not notice (e.g. freezing income tax thresholds) and re-announce tiny pots of spending on slow news days.
But that does not mean a government can long take the public for fools. Voters know when the public realm is crumbling, when they or a parent are stuck on an NHS waiting list, or feel compelled to pull their hair out every time they are forced to interact with the state. People may not know how much things cost, but they can tell when nothing is working.
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