Modern Monetary Theory of course says that deficit size is irrelevant, what matters is has so much money been printed that it causes significant inflation, in which case tax and interest rate rises and pay restraint become necessary to control it.
As to public sector numbers, I can only comment on the NHS which is grossly understaffed - if I had to live my professional life again, I would return to Oz after a 2 to 3 year stint in the UK - this brain drain is a real problem - some hospitals in Oz have huge numbers of UK trained medics - they need to be encouraged with better pay and better working conditions to remain in the UK, and we need to train far more of them, rather than the poorly skilled so called Physician Associates.
Overall trend in staff
Currently there are over 1,410,000 directly employed staff working in NHS hospital and community services in England, around a further 212,000 in general practice and more still working as, for example, outsourced workers in the NHS. Staff costs make up around two-thirds of NHS expenditure, and have – across NHS and foundation trusts – doubled in cash terms to £67 billion in 2020/21 relative to 2008/09 (1.6 times higher in real terms).
The number of NHS staff in England has increased substantially since 2014, with over a quarter of a million (26%) more working in hospital and community health services in November 2022 compared to eight years prior, and over 36,000 (29%) more working in general practice. Much of this increase has occurred in the latter half of this period (see the darker blue bars in the chart below). The expansion of the NHS workforce between 1998 and 2022 has also exceeded the increase to population need over the same period, growing by 62% compared to a 28% increase in the needs-adjusted population.
The Nuffield Trust
Richard Taylor
"William Tell could take an apple off your head. Taylor could take out a processed pea."
Sid Waddell
I suggest you have a word with your shipper.
I could bring 2 pallets from Slovakia for that.
I can bring a pallet of CO2 cylinders from Germany weighing around 400kg for less than that.
But consider before Brexit your 320 Euros would have been closer to 400 as the VAT would have been applied at source, whereas now it is applied on clearance, and will be added to your carriage, so you carriage might be nearer 350 euros, but then add in the vat on carriage and vat on your goods and bingo.
Overall, the only extra charge should be a small clearance fee. I pay £12 to DHL per consignment as an example.
Richard Taylor
"William Tell could take an apple off your head. Taylor could take out a processed pea."
Sid Waddell