Tory Tax Grab Crashes the Pound

Labour across Somerset is collectively shaking it’s head in disbelief at the brazen wealth grab by the Tories in their autumn mini budget. Bridgwater Labour Leader Cllr Brian Smedley (Bridgwater Westover) said “This is blatant Tax cuts for the rich with no help for the poor. You just have to look at the  fall in the pound.  Kwarteng and Truss have crashed the pound and they’re on their way to crashing the UK economy.  Basically the Tories are trying to grab as much as they can before they’re booted out. This is simply giveaways to wealthy corporations. But it’s not a surprise. The purpose of a ‘low’ pound is all about being a haven for foreign states buying up Britain…which of course was the purpose of Brexit. And that’s hilarious considering many of the people voting for it wanted the foreigners out. This gives foreign capital MORE influence in the UK and foreign AND British workers LESS. Also they’ve declared war on redistribution of wealth. They will also now start reducing peoples benefits, push some 120,000 people from Universal Credit into low paid work. Meanwhile at the other end of the scale they abolish the top rate of tax. So that will only benefit the top 1%. Tax cuts for the rich wont generate growth and they’re nothing new. These are the failed policies of George Osborne who also removed the top rate of tax. The Tory philosophy is based on the theory that if you let people keep more of their own money that will trickle down the economy. It didn’t work then, it hasn’t worked anywhere, and it won’t work now.”

Reacting to today’s Government  budget announcement, Terry Ledlie, Yeovil Constituency Labour Party chair, said, “This is a “back to the 80s” budget, returning  to the era when greed was good. It  recklessly risks  running down the UK economy  while making the cost-of-living crisis worse by stoking inflation. The announcement of unfunded tax cuts and higher borrowing has sent the markets into a tailspin, which is likely to increase the cost of  servicing the national  debt and harm the government’s  ability to support the economy in the  less well-off parts of the country. With the UK  economy already heading towards  the rocks, the budget has therefore  been called  “unsustainable” by the well-respected Institute of Fiscal Studies. While most of us will continue to see our wages squeezed by inflation, bankers are saying that  “there has been a run on champagne today” as the removal of the cap on their bonuses was announced. As city banker earnings are already around £500,000 a year, it is simply a scandal that the government has focused on ensuring big pay rises for these London-based mega- earners. This clearly  marks the end of any talk of  “levelling up” and a return to the failed  policy of “trickle down” economics, which hopes that the less well-off will somehow magically benefit because the rich get richer. This approach failed to deliver in the 1980s under Thatcher and Reagan. The abolition of the top rate of tax, which only applies to those earning over £150,000, takes the new focus on making  the wealthy  better off even further. This measure  was even opposed by former Conservative Chancellor Rishi Sunak, who described it as “immoral’. This budget is also a missed opportunity to deal with soaring energy prices at a time when the energy company profits have hit record levels. Once again, ordinary people are left to pick up the eye-watering bills. As a package, this looks like nothing more than a  self-serving pre-election budget that offers short-term tax cuts that will have to be quickly reversed and does little or nothing to help hard-pressed working people, pensioners and  those on benefits. The government is hoping to fool the British people and frankly we deserve better.”

County Labour Group Leader, Cllr Leigh Redman (Bridgwater North & Central), said  “After 12 yrs of failure the Conservatives have given up even pretending to support working people in Somerset. But Labour is on your side, and Labour has a plan to build a strong, secure and growing economy. leigh”

Former Bridgwater Mayor Cllr Tony Heyward (Bridgwater, Eastover) said “My Gas and Electricity is going up to £570 a month. The so called government help for the most vulnerable won’t even scratch the surface for this pensioner.”

Bridgwater Branch Chair, Cllr Irena Hubble (Bridgwater Fairfax West) said  “I like the quote from David Lammy ‘ I have a joke about trickle down economics, 99% of you won’t ever get it ‘. And the quote from Andy Burnham: ‘ Today’s budget is immoral ‘

Bridgwater Westover Town Councillor Tim Mander added “Kwasi Kwarteng is acting like a later day Sheriff of Nottingham stealing from the poor to give to the rich. Both he and Truss are economic illiterates determined to bankrupt the economy just so their pals in the city and Tory donors can be rewarded at the expense of working people.”

Labour Comment on the Mini Budget

Reversal of increase in National Insurance Contribution: we voted against the hike in NICs and so welcome this u-turn.

Cut in corporation tax: we voted for the rise in corporation tax and do not support this u- turn.

Stamp duty cut: Labour wants to see more young people and families get on the housing ladder, but in the end its going to take much more than a stamp duty cut to get home ownership back to the levels last seen under Labour.

Lifting of the cap on Banker’s bonuses: On the one hand the Tories encourage families to practice pay restraint, with the other they lift the cap on investment banker’s bonuses. This is a bizarre move that will do nothing to support growth, and comes straight from the tired Tory playbook on trickle-down economics which haven’t worked for them over the last decade.