It’s been quite a week. Another crazy round of news on MPs’ expenses coming after the rather ridiculous Pre-Budget Report (PBR) from the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling.

The PBR was Gordon Brown’s invention when he was Chancellor – another chance to tell everyone how well things were going, how he’d abolished boom and bust, what a good job he was doing.

Now, in the British constitutional tradition of making it up as you go along, he’s been stuck with it.

Now everyone seems to be saying there will have to be huge cuts in public spending. Things like libraries and swimming pools that we could afford in the 1950s, when the country was much poorer, will now have to go.

That’s what they mean if they are serious about 20 per cent cuts in local council budgets.

Cut soon with the Tories. Cut later with Labour. Cut more intelligently with the Liberal Democrats. Perhaps.

Of course, savings can be made – Pendle Council has shown this, as one of the six best performers in the country for genuine efficiency savings.

But with the size of cuts proposed, that won’t work. Cutting one area of spending will add costs to others. Closing sports centres and youth facilities will result in more youth crime and nuisance, and people will be less healthy.

That kind of effect will happen in almost every area. Even employing fewer people saves far less than it seems – redundancy payments have to be paid.

Unemployment and all manner of other benefits will cost the government, and councils may end up having to pay overtime to staff who remain in order to carry out necessary work.

And it won’t last. There’ll be a massive public outcry as councils close down libraries, sports facilities, local bus services, Christmas lights, community centres, area offices and grants to voluntary groups, cut back on everything else, and put up the prices on all of them.

People will march in the streets, local politicians will be booted out in their droves and the government will come crashing down in by-elections. So it will all be put in reverse.

But by then the damage will have been done. Somehow, by political action, by argument, by clever financing, we have to stop it happening.