The headlines today make for grim reading for the Chancellor but also for all of us. She had to do an emergency budget because she lost control of the public finances, and Labour have damaged our economy with all their record tax burden and profligate spending.
We heard the figures loud and clear yesterday: growth halved, borrowing costs up and unemployment rising. Everything is going in the wrong direction.
As a result the Chancellor and Keir Starmer decided to make emergency cuts to welfare. We all know needs reform as too many people are on sickness benefits rather than in work, but they decided on the worst of all worlds here.
Making £3.4 billion of savings from a bill which is set to reach £100 billion is simply not enough. But these rushed cuts will do nothing to help get people back into work, especially when combined with Labour’s jobs tax which is already leading to redundancies and recruitment freezes. Add to that, their cuts will push at least 200,000 more people in poverty, including 50,000 children.
We need a strong jobs market, a growing economy and support for those who really need it. For this the Government needs to understand the importance of businesses for the economy, and do the hard thinking of proper welfare reform.
