Thursday 20 March 2014

Response to Coalition Budget 2014: Turning the Screw



Listening to the Coalition Chancellor talk about the economy, you would think that all is well, unemployment falling, growth on the rise, the sun is shining on England.

In that context, his Budget Statement 2014 is ‘More of the Same’.

People doing well under this government will do better.

But for those not doing well, the screw will really turn.

The Budget 2014 does nothing for the working poor and given the continuing rise in the cost of living, will make things worse for those families.

In addition, the announced National Welfare Benefits Cap will be a nightmare for those people dependant on benefits. The proposed Cap for the country (119 billion) will be about the same as the amount the government paid in 2013 ALONE in CASH (115 billion) to the support the banks 5 YEARS after the financial crisis, it cannot practically be implemented without causing severe problems.

And the question is ‘how will it work and what will it mean for Manchester residents’? For a city that had the highest level of Child Poverty in the country in 2013, this policy will be a disaster. Manchester City Council will have to plan accordingly for the next few years because to its shame the national Labour Party are supporting and are planning to vote for the Welfare Cap proposal.

The North West Green Party's lead European election candidate, Peter Cranie, asked “Why is it always the least well-off who lose the most? At the moment, people with incomes above £150k pay only marginally higher tax rates than teachers and nurses.

Manchester Green Party Chair Deyika Nzeribe said “The high levels of poverty and stories of hardship the people of Manchester have endured over the past few years have been well documented. Manchester Green Party condemns this budget as part of the continuing assault on the most vulnerable in society and if reports are true, it’s a disgrace that the Labour Party is even thinking of supporting it in Parliament.”

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