The past 12 years of Tory Government have seen countless lows and almost no highs. The Cameron/Osborne years were marked by ministers revelling in taking money off the poor.
They implemented nasty policies like the bedroom tax and pushed through a benefits cap that caused misery. Theresa May’s hapless administration was dominated by Brexit melodrama and never got off the ground.
And Boris Johnson’s ill-fated period as PM was so disastrous it still feels like a bad dream. Yesterday’s mini-budget, necessitated by Liz Truss becoming the latest inhabitant of No10, was the lowest point since 2010.
It is hard to imagine a more unfair and unjust set of proposals than the ones outlined by new Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng. Voters are anxiously wondering how they can pay the bills, with rampant inflation, rising interest rates and sky high energy costs draining their finances.
People on modest means were hoping for an economic lifeline, but instead all they got was a slap in the face. By any yardstick, the Chancellor’s reversal of the national insurance cut is a policy that disproportionately benefits the well off.
He then doubled down by cutting the top rate of income tax by 45p to 40p on income over £150,000. This was a blatant sop to the rich and a reminder of Osborne slashing the same rate when he was in office.
To add insult to injury, the cap on bankers’ bonuses was lifted and the planned rise in corporation tax was overturned.
Boffins estimate that all the tax changes coming in over the next few years will see folk earning less than £155,000 lose out. The wealthy few on more than this amount will win, while those on more than £1million will gain more than £40,000.
This was a budget by the rich, for the rich, with everyone else given the two- finger salute by the Tories. Experts have warned that cutting tax during a time of high inflation will simply lead to further price rises.
This means lower and middle income Scots paying the price for these reckless tax cuts. Shell-shocked voters will wonder who this atrocious budget was targeted at.
Scots will rightly see it as a package of measures designed to help the wealthy, as will the crucial Red Wall voters. Kwarteng’s budget reeks of an attempt to loot the public purse ahead of an expected general election defeat in two years.
This day of shame cannot go unpunished and voters must be given the chance to have their say. Truss must call a general election and let the British public pass their verdict on this bunch of charlatans.
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