Tories’ Budget Betrays Ordinary Workers and Pensioners

369 words, 2 minutes read time.

In the face of a looming electoral Charge of the Light Brigade, many Tories find themselves on shaky ground as Chancellor Jeremy Hunt delivered yet another lacklustre budget, throwing mere crumbs for ordinary workers after years of taking bread from them. Pensioners also emerge as significant losers, with over 60 percent paying income tax at the standard rate set to be £650 worse off by 2027 due to recent policy changes.

Hunt’s touted National Insurance contributions cut for 27 million workers to is nothing but smoke and mirrors. While claiming to offer permanent tax cuts, the Tories have frozen income tax bands and the personal tax allowance until 2028, functioning as a stealth tax rise. The Institute for Fiscal Studies estimates that the personal tax allowance freeze alone pushes the base rate of tax from 20 percent to 26 percent.

The freeze disproportionately affects the poorest workers, pushing them into higher tax brackets sooner. James Smith of the Resolution Foundation aptly describes the situation as a “tax sandwich,” where tax cuts are overshadowed by larger tax rises from the previous year.

While Hunt plans substantial public spending cuts post-election, he parades a generous £11 billion increase for Britain’s military, signalling warped priorities. The 2.5 percent GDP allocation to ‘defence’ spending contrasts sharply with potential devastating austerity measures for transport, universities, and councils. And let’s remember this spending is, largely, not about defending our shores but engaging in foreign adventures of doubtful value to our people.

The Public Sector Productivity Plan promises digitization of the NHS and other public services, leveraging AI for efficiency. However, these promises echo past unfulfilled pledges and privately run projects well over budget, raising scepticism about their practical implementation.

Funding for tax cuts is sourced from the abolishment of non-domicile tax status, a move that disrupts Labour’s plans for increased NHS spending from that source.

As the budget unfolds against the backdrop of economic recession, Hunt’s promises of a “high wage, high skill” economy ring hollow. In reality, stagnant wages, public sector cuts, and stealth tax rises dominate the landscape, portraying a desperate act of a faltering Tory government with no real solutions to the economic crisis.

By Pat Harrington

Image by luxstorm at Pixabay