Friday, March 25, 2022
Targeting the poorest
It is going to be some considerable time before the Tories are in any position to attempt to reclaim their own carefully cultivated image of a low-tax, pro-family party, but they can rest-assured that their reputation for favouring the rich over the poorest elements of our society is secure.
As the Mirror reports, thias week's budget has been a PR disaster for the government, but a potential crisis for 1.3 million families in the UK.
The paper says that Rishi Sunak’s mini-Budget will plunge 1.3million Brits into poverty as the brutal impact of his miserly measures was today laid bare. And 500,000 children are among the families who will be left worse off by the Chancellor’s Spring Statement, which did little to help the hard-up survive the crippling cost of living crisis:
Millions of people struggling with soaring energy bills, skyrocketing prices and a looming National Insurance payments rise had hoped Mr Sunak would deliver a package of measures that would ease their pain.
But the millionaire Tory dealt them a crushing blow when he offered little in the way of help on Wednesday.
And today, the Resolution Foundation think tank exposed just how hard households will be hit.
It warned inflation, already soaring to 6.2% in the fastest rise in 30 years and outstripping wages and benefits, could hit 9%.
And its analysis revealed typical working-age household incomes are to fall by 4% in real terms this year, a loss of £1,100, while the largest drops will be among the poorest quarter where incomes are set to plunge by 6%.
Mr Sunak’s £11 billion in cuts to National Insurance and fuel duty will mostly benefit people in work.
Even with a 1p drop in income tax from 2024, seven out of eight workers will still be paying more tax overall by 2025, the research found.
Workers are also on course to suffer an £11,500 wage loss.
Resolution Foundation chief executive Torsten Bell said: “In the face of a cost of living crisis that looks set to make this Parliament the worst on record for household incomes, the Chancellor came to the dispatch box promising support with the cost of living today, and tax cuts tomorrow.
“The policies do not measure up to the rhetoric.” He added that Mr Sunak “prioritised rebuilding his tax-cutting credentials over supporting the low to middle income households who will be hardest hit from a surging cost of living”.
What a disaster this government has turned out to be.
As the Mirror reports, thias week's budget has been a PR disaster for the government, but a potential crisis for 1.3 million families in the UK.
The paper says that Rishi Sunak’s mini-Budget will plunge 1.3million Brits into poverty as the brutal impact of his miserly measures was today laid bare. And 500,000 children are among the families who will be left worse off by the Chancellor’s Spring Statement, which did little to help the hard-up survive the crippling cost of living crisis:
Millions of people struggling with soaring energy bills, skyrocketing prices and a looming National Insurance payments rise had hoped Mr Sunak would deliver a package of measures that would ease their pain.
But the millionaire Tory dealt them a crushing blow when he offered little in the way of help on Wednesday.
And today, the Resolution Foundation think tank exposed just how hard households will be hit.
It warned inflation, already soaring to 6.2% in the fastest rise in 30 years and outstripping wages and benefits, could hit 9%.
And its analysis revealed typical working-age household incomes are to fall by 4% in real terms this year, a loss of £1,100, while the largest drops will be among the poorest quarter where incomes are set to plunge by 6%.
Mr Sunak’s £11 billion in cuts to National Insurance and fuel duty will mostly benefit people in work.
Even with a 1p drop in income tax from 2024, seven out of eight workers will still be paying more tax overall by 2025, the research found.
Workers are also on course to suffer an £11,500 wage loss.
Resolution Foundation chief executive Torsten Bell said: “In the face of a cost of living crisis that looks set to make this Parliament the worst on record for household incomes, the Chancellor came to the dispatch box promising support with the cost of living today, and tax cuts tomorrow.
“The policies do not measure up to the rhetoric.” He added that Mr Sunak “prioritised rebuilding his tax-cutting credentials over supporting the low to middle income households who will be hardest hit from a surging cost of living”.
What a disaster this government has turned out to be.
