>The amount of government spends per capita far more a product of the country's GDP per capita than of relative tax rates and government deficits. I suspect ma

>The amount of government spends per capita far more a product of the country's GDP per capita than of relative tax rates and government deficits. I suspect many people would take issue with this claim in its strongest form, which seems to be at the heart of your argument. It's true on anyone's account that the overall prosperity of a country (or lack thereof) places constraints on what it can spend (and the UK's prosperity does seem to be on a downward trend following Brexit). Even so, following 13 years of Conservative/coalition government, it's not really credible to suggest that public spending is currently maxed out. There is considerable wiggle room. More money could be spent on the NHS if there were the political will to do so. Germany, for example, spends a higher percentage of its GDP on healthcare than the UK. You might respond that Germany is wealthier, but note that there are only four European countries that spend less per person on healthcare than the UK: Greece, Portugal, Spain and Italy.