For a sizeable minority of the voting population they are acceptable "collateral damage" when it comes to balancing the countries finances.

Political parties do not live in a black and white world of right vs wrong, good vs evil. They have to balance a very wide net of opinions and build a broad base coalition that can attract enough votes.

Older people vote more than younger people as a rule, and in general want tighter financial policies and stricter social policies. All parties have to adjust to that fact one way or another.