Yesterday Jeremy Hunt, the new chancellor, announced the biggest Budget U-turn in history, throwing out nearly all of Liz Truss’s and Kwame Kwarteng’s tax cuts and announcing a big curb on help for those with rising energy bills.
But this only the half of it. In less than two weeks time big cuts will be announced for public expenditure in a wealthy country and there will be more grim news for the poor – whether pensioners or low income families whatever pledges are given for compassionate Conservativism. But what is the position now before the axe falls on public spending amid a cost of living crisis?
This is the answer given in a well researched report by Barnardo’s the children’s charity, drawing on work done by the polling organisations, Yougov, and the non Tufton Street think tanks, the Institute for Public Policy Research and IPPR North. See Barnardo’s press release here.
More than half the parents contacted have ALREADY cut back on food for the family and one in five parents have struggled to supply sufficient food. Over a quarter of parents say their children’s mental health has been affected and one in five taken out new credit cards – boosting the profits of the banks just as curbs on bankers’ bonuses have been lifted. Sadly a quarter have had to sell some of their possessions to make ends meet and a small number have had to return pets to animal rescue centres because they can’t afford to keep them.
Among the professions, three out of five people are supporting a child, young person or family experiencing poverty and three in five practitioners have either given food or pointed families to food banks. The Mirror today gives a dramatic account from other charities backing up this food crisis.
Barnardo’s calls for more benefit help not less
The charity is calling for an extension of free school; meals to all families; help for all vulnerable children to be able to participate fully in school life; strengthen targeted social security payments to help young people and families manage better; improve mental health services to help children and introduce more family hubs to support people and children.
The problem is what journalists are hearing is likely to be the opposite – real cuts to social security – a mental health service starved of resources and no compassion to extend free school meals.
Banardo’s doesn’t cover issues facing pensioners but given comments on my site the most likely changes for them are the end of the triple lock, the raising of the pension age again- and using the excuse that families are struggling in work to say pensioners can’t have a good deal.
What can’t be exaggerated is that more and more people are being driven into poverty whatever the government says ( they claim the opposite). So unless you are banker or a very highly paid executive getting a big national insurance reduction or an MP or minister life this winter is going to be very grim.
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If this diabolical Tory Government hadn’t given in excess of £70,000,000 of U.K. taxpayers money away to the undoubtedly corrupt Ukrainian Government for no reason other than totally criminal activities, then we wouldn’t be in the position you describe below.
When will they come clean & tell the public the truth about the Covid hoax & the corrupt activities they are involved in each & everyday of their power trip.
The PG Tips chimpanzees could do a far better job of Government than this complete shower, for whom almost none of the British electorate voted for!!!!!!!!
Get rid of the Tory party in it’s entirety & the lies & corrupt behaviour would almost entirely stop.
Pauline BrawnFlye
>
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Watched the news tonight and seeing the desperation and sadness- a young man with an 8 week old baby and no hot water or heating and an older lady in tears.Feels like Britain is becoming a 3rd World Country and the working man is expected to pay the price.What is this country coming to its certainly lost the Great in Britain
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Dear David Hencke,
Will you please give people a chance to grant moral support sufficient to encourage the political types to bring into existence our new Over 50s (saves all ages) party, by granting me an article by you in your blog.
The manifesto is fully published, by updating an unused formal election manifesto from recent elections, and adding all that us 1950s ladies learned when our pension age rose, of all the other stuff we also got hit by.
The Over 50s (saves all ages) party would also be the greatest Suffragette party in UK history, unravelling the discrimination against women on all issues, as well as National Insurance and state pension (around half of pensioner ladies rely solely on the state pension in retirement).
Over 50s party would, in government, offer:
– Permanently ending the soaring energy prices.
– Free school breakfasts and lunches for all state school kids.
– Cap rents.
– Bring down mortgage interest.
– Bring down council tax for us, more on the rich.
– Less income tax for us, more on the rich.
– Less worker National Insurance for people, more on the rich (actually this is just an end to a tax break the rich have on NI).
– Less income tax for small businesses, more on the richest companies.
– £16 per hour minimum wage from age 16, so no need to claim benefit.
– Better benefit by making welfare completely admin minimal.
– £448.12 per week state pension, for all pensioners, old and new.
– State Pension age 60.
– Works pension age 50.
And so much more.
www dot over50sparty dot org dot uk
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https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/jeremy–nhs-junior-doctors/
He ruined the NHS and now he has the chance to finish the job started by Lizzie: ruin the economy. What is happening to politics in this country?
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I think you may have spelt his name wrong…..
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Whose name? There are 2 names in the blog. I can suggest a 4 letter alternative for the 4 letter name
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Whose name? There are 2 in the blog. I can suggest an alternative for the 4 letter name
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