David Cameron and George Osborne - the two men behind today's Emergency Budget should be happy at the way it has been positioned
The government has been quick to announce it is cutting its PR and communication budget but what is interesting is the PR of the cuts.
The Emergency Budget is set to be announced today, just as promised within 50 days since the election.
The Government believes it is going to have to make severe cuts to get the country’s finances back in order. The government have tested the public with the earlier announcement of cuts of £6bn of cuts. These were merely just the non-controversial start, ID cards and Quangos are not going to upset too many people and they allowed the government a chance to gauge public opinion.
But we are likely to see the true scale of the cuts in a couple of today’s budget and also further cuts likely to come in the Autumn.
Cuts in the public spending are always going to be controversial, so PR has been vital in order to try to position the government favourably.
The focus of the Con-Dem Government’s media activity has been about the economy and specifically about the need for cuts. They are trying to convince the public – and essentially voters – that the cuts are necessary, the cuts are Labour’s fault and the Con-Dem coalition are saving the economy and the country from tougher times in the future.
The first focus of this PR campaign started before the election with the Conservatives attacking Labour about their handling of the economy. But Luckily for the Conservatives a political consensus had formed about the need for cuts, this allowed the message to be accepted by the public.
Then after forming a government the Conservatives attempted to show the public that the tough decisions they will have to make are merely down to Labour. Stories were fed to the media about how bad the economy and public finances were and how it was all down to Labour. Examples of this are Ministers proclaiming black holes in the department’s budget, the Liam Bryne’s ‘No Money Left’ letter, etc. The strategy then moved onto the consequences of not making cuts, for example Nick Clegg claimed it would not be progressive for future generations to pay for our spending. We have seen in interviews and speeches over the past few weeks time after time government ministers telling us tough times lay ahead, severe cuts will have to be made. They have not given the public details but are merely preparing them for the budget. The public now believe cuts are necessary and that severe cuts are going to be made in today’s Emergency Budget.
We have also had leaks about certain aspects of the budget to try to prepare the public for the cuts and tax rises that will be announced later today – for example a rise in VAT is widely anticipated and if it is confirmed today it will not be a shock.
Overall the Conservative’s communication strategy has been good and they way they have positioned today’s budget, its cuts and tax rises has been top-notch
