Tory Chancellor Jeremy Hunt set what is likely to be his last ever budget this week. In it households will be £870 worse off giving 5p for every 10p being taken, the budget confirms the UK has the highest tax burden in 70 years, it shows that this is the worst parliament for living standards on record, and in fact the only Parliament on record where living standards have fallen. This Tory budget reveals that growth in GDP per capita is negative this year and has been downgraded in four years of the forecast period. It reveals that the latest ONS figures show seven consecutive quarters of falling GDP per capita from the start of 2022, the longest period of stagnation since the 1950s, and it proves conclusively that the Conservatives have wrecked the public finances with debt almost tripling under them from £1 trillion to just under £2.6 trillion. But people know all this. That’s why no-ones voting for them anymore. But what does Labour say here in Somerset?
Bridgwater Labour Constituency Chairman Cllr Tim Mander says “Yesterday’s budget represented a huge, wasted opportunity. The Chancellor could have started to try to tackle Britain’s crumbling public services from dental services to hospital waiting lists from pre-school provision to social care. All he did was nick Labour policies and throw a few crumbs under the table by the way of a small national insurance reduction at the same time as the tax take is at an all-time high. If Labour policies are going to be used let the electorate decide and call an immediate general election “
Managing Decline
Labour Mayor of Bridgwater and Economy spokesman Cllr Mick Lerry added “ Chancellor Hunt’s budget is really just trying to manage further decline of the economy. There is no plan to lift the United Kingdom out of recession. It is a budget of speculation and bluff, that somehow a recovery will happen. The public will not be fooled, they know that they are no better off now and that they are witnessing the “last throw of the dice by a reckless Tory government. The government have had 14 years to show that they cannot prevent the economy from decline. The budget has highlighted further tax and public debt increases, for the next 5 years. It really is time to go, after many years of saying how important non-doms are for economic investment, they now agree with Labour that the non-dom status has to be abolished. Borrowing policies from Labour to try and win support for the future election, will not fool working people. Hunt said: “I want a groundbreaking agreement with the NHS to be a model for all our public services” including education, the police, courts and local government, as he announced a “landmark public sector productivity plan”. Well as Keir Starmer said: ” Hunt was the Secretary of State for the Health Service”, so where was his groundbreaking plan then! “.
Economic Failure
County Council Labour leader Cllr Leigh Redman commented “This is clearly a last ditch attempt by this government to make themselves look good, a pre-election giveaway budget, prioritising tax cuts over addressing the essential issues like public services and the cost of living that are impacting people everyday. I think the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) highlighted an important point, it highlighted that while the budget included tax cuts benefiting workers, it did not effectively address the underlying issues of high living costs and economic challenges faced by households. The Chancellor’s Budget has lifted the lid on fourteen years of Tory economic failure, taxes are still rising, prices are still going up in the shops and mortgages are higher. Nothing the chancellor has said changed this, every corner of Somerset is still struggling because of this government!”
Immediate Cash Injection Needed
Labour Bridgwater Town Council Leader Cllr Brian Smedley said “There’s no doubt the Tories are on the way out and Labour’s on the way in. However, all the more reason for Labour not to buy Tory rhetoric and while we can be cautious and wait to see what the books say when we get hold of them, we do need to set out a few clear policies and stick to them. TheTories are obviously nicking Labour policies like non dom taxes and windfall taxes -but likely spending that on tax cuts. At the same time the real damage is being done to Local Government with some 20% cuts to council funding and in the very same area that took the brunt of the austerity years of Osborne and Cameron (and don’t forget the LibDems who let them back into government). What is missing is an immediate cash injection to protect public services. Labour will need to do this when we get in and will have to say this sooner rather than later. Will Labour spend anything if they stick to Tory taxation plans? The key here is to fix public services – and we can only do that by putting more money in and can only do that by raising taxes. Remember that we’re in this mess today because Osborne cut 7.1% a year from local government and brought in a whole package of austerity that caused the present catastrophe for the current generation. If Labour is going to reverse that it will need to say how and give the people something to vote for. “
The tories are clearly following a scorched earth policy, grabbing as much for themselves before being cast into the wilderness for a generation