And so it begins...

The first LibDems have defected and David Cameron has told us, as predicted, that the books are in a much worse state than anticipated so cuts will affect each and every one of us. No surprises there.
The two LibDem absconders are a couple of local councillors in Exeter who have moved over to Labour as a protest at the coalition. I am sure that they won't be the last, but wonder how long until Nick loses a 'name' - I guess when the public sector job cuts begin; speaking of which....
Cameron chose the Open University at Milton Keynes to make his speech of doom, understood by many as a 'softening up' of the public before the spending review on the 22nd June which is likely to hit the public sector hard, as well as an increase in VAT - possibly to 20%. It has even been rumoured that public sector workers will be expected to take a 5% pay cut, mirroring that of ministers.
Cameron focussed on the deficit and the interest payments that the UK will be paying in 2014/5 if the deficit isn't reduced now. He said that there was no link between the deficit and the recession and is purely due to the previous governments overspending in the public sector. The Shadow Chancellor, Alistair Darling, challenged this by stating that pre the recession the UK had the second smallest deficit in the G7 and pointed out that "there’s absolutely nothing now that people didn’t know when I made my Budget statement in March". Once again the PM's speech was short of detail, and there was no information regarding the scale or focus of the cuts other than a promise that the most needy and vulnerable will be protected. Again, there was a lack of detail as to how that can be so, and already commentators are wondering how the gap between rich and poor can possibly be closed given the cuts we are likely to see. All should be revealed on June 22nd, when George Osborne will announce his spending review and our new age of austerity begins...
Meanwhile in the Commons, Nick Clegg was busy defending his reform proposals and indicating that there maybe some movement on the 55% for dissolution policy, should a parliament find itself in limbo, yet unable to find the missing 4% to dissolve.