Your World of Legal Intelligence
 United Kingdom | +44 (0) 20 7284 8080

The Budget was deeply divisive and worsening past mistakes, says union boss; TUC regional secretary Beth Farhat says the Chancellor is on an ideological mission to attack the public services.

Document Cited in Related
Vincent

Byline: Beth Farhat

The Chancellor's Budget has been passed by Parliament even though it shows that his economic plan and reliance on austerity policies still isn't working.

Earnings growth is being revised down while household debts continue to pile up. This is not sustainable. There were further announcements which concern not just trade union members but many people who want to see a fairer economy and society.

The Chancellor talks of a Northern Powerhouse yet North East unemployment has increased by 3,000 compared to 12 months ago at the time of the previous Budget. This is not a sign of success.

Rather than acknowledge that the Government's own policies have reduce growth and investment in our region, I fear Ministers will continue to bury their heads in the sand. The Minister for the Northern Powerhouse is an MP in our region and should be taking it seriously.

Similarly the Government can't expect to be taken seriously on devolution while it is demolishing funding for local council services. Is it any wonder that more and more people are now questioning the Government's motives? The poorest communities continue to take the biggest hit which makes a mockery of the claim 'we are all in this together'.

The resignation of Iain Duncan Smith has overshadowed many of the details of the Budget but the fundamental destructive direction remains. George Osborne is continuing to weaken our public services as part of an ideological obsession with 'reducing the size of the state'.

The Chancellor has been caught in the act of picking the pockets of the disabled to pay for tax cuts for the wealthiest and it is welcome he has since been defeated on this matter. However many of the deep social security cuts still remain.

Another ideologically-driven policy announced in the Budget that deserves much more scrutiny and opposition is the...

To continue reading

Request your trial
COPYRIGHT MGN Ltd.

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT