Fairness is probably best associated in the British mind (or, that is, how some of us at least would like to perceive ourselves as associated) with an inherent and traditional sense of fair play, using as an example the sporting analogy of equal conditions (or a level playing field) for all within the agreed rules for a particular game. Indeed, it has been suggested that this is one of the reasons for the British being the initiators of many of the organised games and sports with popular appeal around the world. Whether within the multi-cultural Britain of today a common understanding of, and general adherence to, such a sense of fair play still applies is open to debate. However, the Conservative party is associated with certain traditional values and its current image in the public mind is embodied by David Cameron its leader and the Prime Minister. His image is that of a patrician commanding respect through his bearing, complemented by good manners (although perhaps considered rather old fashioned in the Britain of today), born to lead with a self-confident and business-like approach; together with all this, however, must come a traditional sense of responsibility with respect to public trust, to ensure that the rhetoric of the Coalition on fairness is not specious or proven lacking in reality underneath the fine words.
Therefore, it was careless of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, after insisting his budget cuts were both fair and progressive, to be caught out so easily by the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS). The IFS was able to point out that the distributive effects of the tax and welfare measures of the Coalition, when the tax increases on high earners adopted from the last Labour government are excluded, are in fact not progressive but more regressive with the poorest unfairly suffering cuts proportionally greater than the better off.
It is ironic that the Chancellor has just announced today that he has appointed Robert Chote the Director of the IFS as the new Chairman of the Office for Budget Responsibility, the putative independent watchdog over Treasury fiscal projections.