Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his Chancellor Jeremy Hunt have only been in office for weeks but this fledgling government’s financial statement on November 17 could be talked about for years.
The Tories are widely expected to announce a range of cuts to public spending in a bid to restore international market confidence in the UK economy.
It is always worth repeating, these are Tory ministers attempting to clear up a mess created by their own party.
This was not an inevitability. Other countries have weathered the Covid storm better than we have – and the final bill should not be paid by the least well-off members of our society.
There is no sound reason why benefits, including Universal Credit and the state pension, should not be raised in line with inflation.
Many people who rely on our welfare system are already in work. Figures released today show how much the spending power of those relying on benefits has dropped in real terms over the past 10 years.
Sure, the Tories face tough spending choices but slashing benefits isn’t one of them. The SNP is right to point out that other alternatives are open to the UK Government when it comes to raising money.
There are various tax loopholes that could be closed – non-dom status being just one of them. The social security system is there for all of us when we need it. It’s in everyone’s interests that it is properly funded.
The Tories must do the right thing, for once, and raise benefits in line with inflation when the time comes.
'Let justice prevail'
More than 700 sub-postmasters in the UK were falsely prosecuted after an IT system wrongly showed accounting discrepancies over a 14-year period.
The scandal ruined lives and reputations and many died without being able to clear their names.
Yesterday, the Scottish Criminal Case Review Commission ruled that six Scots sub-postmasters may have been victims of miscarriages of justice. They are now able to appeal their convictions, as many in England have successfully done.
Aleid Kloosterhuis, Susan Sinclair, Colin Smith, Judith Smith, Robert Thomson and Anne Quarm, on behalf of the late William Quarm, will now have their cases reviewed at the High Court of Justiciary. They have taken a significant step towards clearing their names after years of turmoil.
Justice will not be fully served until someone is held accountable for one of the most widespread miscarriages of justice in the history of the UK legal system.
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