International comparisons show the UK still has one of the lowest levels of government spending in the developed world. However, Labour will still be able to go into the election as a party committed to funding public services, albeit from a low ebb. This is because strong economic growth over the last decade has enabled it to switch money from welfare spending and debt payments onto frontline services. And spending on the key political battlegrounds of health and education is set to increase much faster than under the Conservatives. The Conservatives have pledged to keep to Labour's spending plans on health and education, limiting their scope for tax cuts, while the Liberal Democrats want to increase spending on health and education by around 3bn each.
Labour faces the charge that it talks big on spending and fails to deliver.
Actual spending by government departments has consistently undershot under Labour. But this year, Labour only managed to spend 4.3bn out of the 7.4bn allocated to that category. So perhaps it is not surprising that the public is sceptical about the state of public services.