The Tories say that spending on public services for people who don't depend on them is unsustainable, and that we need to change our expectations of what the State is supposed to do.
Now the Conservatives and Lib Dems are shackled together in coalition, how will this Tory philosophy square with the Liberal Democrats' stated commitment to public services for all? Here are a few extracts from the preamble to the Lib Dem Federal Constitution:
"We promote human rights and open government, a sustainable economy which serves genuine need, public services of the highest quality."
"We support the widest possible distribution of wealth and promote the rights of all citizens to social provision."
"We seek to make public services responsive to the people they serve, to encourage variety and innovation within them and to make them available on equal terms to all."
It is difficult to see how grassroots Lib Dems will swallow public service cuts in the longer term, and party activists should question whether they entered politics to assist the Tories in permanently reducing the size and function of the welfare state.
Some party grandees are rumoured to be very unhappy with today's announcements, including former leader Charles Kennedy. Kennedy remains very popular with party members, and his unease will be echoed by the Lib Dem grassroots.
They are not in denial about the need for cuts. Nor are they frightened of making difficult decisions. What concerns them is the suspicion that they are aiding and abetting a Tory assault on the long-term prospects for social democracy in the
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