Chancellor Jeremy Hunt will this week try to repair the economic damage caused by the appalling Truss government.
The former prime minister and her chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, used the British public as guinea pigs for a disastrous experiment involving unfunded tax cuts for the rich. The plan nearly sank the UK economy and billions of pounds must be found to mop up the mess.
The poorest in society must not be forced to pick up the tab for Tory incompetence. Benefits must be uprated in line with inflation and the promise to honour the state pension triple lock must be kept.
Many pensioners live on a low, fixed income and a below-inflation increase would increase poverty. The real question is how to fill the near £50billion black hole while protecting the weakest.
Reports have suggested taxes for the rich will go up – a move that would be welcome. But it has also been suggested that a larger portion of the cake will be covered by spending cuts, otherwise known as “Austerity 2.0”.
Such a move would be catastrophic and morally reprehensible, especially on the back of previous austerity drives. Hunt must ensure that by far the biggest chunk of the rescue package comes from tax rises, not spending cuts.
One obvious move would be to end “non-dom” status – an outrageous loophole Prime Minister Sunak’s family knows well. Those with the broadest shoulders, not the weakest in society, should pay the bill handed to voters by the Tories.
What do you think needs to be done to fix our economy? Share your thoughts in the comments.
Benefit lifeline
So many people tried to apply for the Scottish Child Payment yesterday the website crashed. It comes after the benefit was raised to £25 per week and an extra 300,000 kids became eligible to receive it.
The demand for the payment shows just how important it is for so many families. This benefit is only available in Scotland and is a great example of devolution in action.
Social security was previously devolved to Westminster and it’s only in recent years that parts of it have become the responsibility of Holyrood. The benefits system, and Universal Credit in particular, remains far from ideal with adequate levels of support being denied to many vulnerable people.
But the Scottish Child Payment is a genuinely useful addition to our welfare safety net. The extra money could prove invaluable to many families as they prepare for a winter of soaring food and fuel bills.
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