Which of these eight expenditure headings to you think the government spends the most on (currently £168 billion)?

1. Debt interest
2. Defence
3. Education
4. Health
5. Industry, agriculture, employment
6. Public order and safety (policing, etc.)
7. Social protection (benefits, pensions)
8. Transport

This was recently the subject of a national on-line poll, and the results were surprising.

The largest number of people – 38 per cent – thought that debt interest was the biggest cost and less than a quarter got the right answer – social protection.

The actual figures were (highest to lowest):
Social protection £168bn
Health £111bn
Education £82bn
Public order £33bn
Defence £33bn
Debt interest £31bn
Industry, agriculture, unemployment £22bn
Transport £21bn.

And here, in these figures, you have the answer as to why Britain is as it is today. We are spending an absolute fortune wrapping people in cotton wool.

Remember that old Socialist philosphy of looking after people from cradle to grave? Well, we're paying for it dearly now.

Some of this £168 billion is going on feather-bedding people – allowing them to draw benefits month in month out and contributing nothing.
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Of course, we have to look after people in their old age, when they are ill, if they are disabled, provide support for people while they are raising young children and when people are genuinely unemployed and cannot work.

But the more benefits you lavish on people, the greater is the army of those relying on the State rather than standing on their own two feet.

We need a government prepared to take a hard look at that £169 billion of spending.

With so much being spent on cotton wool and feather beds, no wonder we haven't got enough left to get a first class health service; have problems with education; send troops into war zones ill-equipped, rely too much on electric gadgetry because we can't afford enough police on the streets; can't quickly compensate farmers hit by animal disease, and have to put up with grossly inadequate roads and public transport (I could go on and on!).

It's also why the rest of the world think our streets are paved with gold.

And every time we inflict a Labour government on Britain the balance gets tipped further in the wrong direction.