Tories are budgeting for more austerity
In its latest report, the OBR – the fiscal watchdog – has forecast that inflation next year will be 2.7% higher than previously expected. Yet the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement offers the public services no more money to pay the bills. As a result of this new public expenditure squeeze, the OBR estimates that Department spending will be £19bn a year lower in real terms at the end of the forecast period in 2027/28. As the Resolution Foundation warns, tax cuts today are being paid for by ‘implausible spending cuts tomorrow’.
From a Wandsworth viewpoint, this is the last thing the Country needs. The public services are already under heart-breaking strain. Patients are enduring record NHS waiting lists; local authorities have been cutting essential services; prison conditions are deplorable; court cases are delayed; the UK has developed no stable, sustained industrial strategy; and the foreign aid budget remains cut at 0.5% of GDP. Yet the Government is adopting plans which budget for further austerity while claiming the prospect of success. .
We have already endured the unrealistic promises of the Tory Brexit. We are now faced with the unrealistic promises of this Tory budget. It is time for a change; not to an interfering big government but to an active, enabling government concerned to tackle the problems of today.
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