What exactly is a "cut"?

One of the much over-used words already in the hours since the official dissolution of parliament is “cuts”.  Simply by using that word implies that whatever level of spending that there currently is should be treated as the norm, the basis from which everything should then be measured.  But why? Who said what we currently have should be the base level?

By way of an example let’s say we spend £100 each year on providing a free at the point of delivery NHS.  But supposing fewer people got ill, the need to spend that £100 diminishes.  So spending less on the NHS in this example is not a cut but a reduction in spending given the reduction in demand.  Now it is just a hypothetical example, but I hope you see the point.  Supposing crime reduced.  We don’t need so many police.  Suppose, well, you can see the thread.  Just because we spend our taxpayers money on certain things now does not mean if we reduce expenditure on them in the future it should be regarded as a cut.

So next time a candidate says we will stop the cuts, give them this example and ask them to explain exactly what they mean.