Government Savings or Government Cuts?

I would like to raise what is ultimately a point of language but is important; what is the difference in government between a cut and a saving?

This thought has come of the back of a government report into how to save money on the rail network with the claim that £1 billion could be saved in 8 years with the main money saving recomendations being:

• Train companies should work more closely with Network Rail to improve efficiency
• More car parking spaces at stations
• Restructuring of the fare system (raising off-peak fares and lowering peak fares)

All of these are being described as saving in the rail network, however only the first of these is a saving, by being more efficient, both of the other two involve the public paying more but yet this is publicised as a saving and this is a much broader point in this "time of austerity" the words the government choose to use can have a massive baring on what we think of them.

Describing something as a cut is, understandably, politically uncomfortable for a government because nobody wants to take services away from the public, but describing cuts as savings is technically correct. This is because by removing a service (cutting it) you are spending less money, so you are saving money. This makes the terms almost synonymous with each other. This means that we can't just listen to what the politicians say, we have to look at their actions, and don't think this point just applies to the party in power. It also applies to the opposition. This is because the government may be making a saving without cutting (for example through improved efficiency) but the opposition can legitimately claim that it's a cut.

And if a government can convince the public that it is saving rather than cutting it will be far more popular and so will stand a chance of wining the next election; and in the UK may be labelled, if successful, the savours of the economy. A cabinets worth of political reputations are reliant on this linguistic swindle, and it looks like they might pull it off. 

So next time you see or hear something about a government cut or a government saving, from either side of the argument, don't just take their word for granted, look at what is being proposed because the word "cut" and the word "saving" appear to have become synonymous with one another during this parliament; but non of this should be that surprising. We have never been able to trust politicians.