Austerity is supposed to reduce the role of the state in British national life. A government that consumes only 36.5% of GDP ought not to be able to engage in pettifogging regulation and general bossiness. Where Labour created endless schemes to regulate public behaviour and long lists of new criminal offences, the Conservatives will restore liberty. Or at least, that's the theory.

The problem with budget cuts is that they eventually start to eat into services that politicians and the public both care about.