The Conservatives have found their ‘magic money tree’, says Bath MP

27 September 2022

Last Friday the Chancellor set out his plans for an economy that will see the richest get richer whilst those worse off are left even more vulnerable. Bath MP Wera Hobhouse has commented on how she is deeply worried about the policies announced today as they will further exacerbate inequality.

This shameful package’s contempt for those on the breadline is outlined in the Government’s new policy towards those on Universal Credit. 120,000 people will now be forced to work or see their benefits slashed. In Bath, over 1,000 people are at risk of being caught up in this. These punitive sanctions on those struggling are the clearest example yet of the Conservatives’ disdain for the poorest in the country.

Whilst taking vital support from the most vulnerable, the Chancellor announced he would be putting more money into the pockets of bankers. Abolishing the bankers’ bonus cap is not about economic growth, it is about the Conservatives looking after their friends in the upper echelons of society. Their aim is not to give a hand up to those struggling, but to push them further down.

The policies that help the most well off ran throughout the statement. The removal of the highest rate of income tax was just a continuation of this. Almost half of the gains will go to the richest 5%, who will be £8,560 a year better off. Just 12% of the benefit will go to the poorest half of households, who pick up only £230. Whilst the Government tells workers to show restraint in asking for pay rises to help combat inflation, the richest are handed money straight from the Treasury itself.

Not only is the ‘mini-budget’ deeply immoral, it is also going to wreck the public finances. Since the Chancellor has spoken, the pound fell to a record low against the dollar and the FTSE100 tanked. Business has lost confidence in the Conservatives just as the country has.

To fund these handouts to the rich, borrowing will sky-rocket. Bond sales for 2022-2023 will rise from £62.4 billion to £193.9 billion. The cost of borrowing for the Government has also risen. It now costs more for the Government to borrow money than Italy and Greece, nations we used to consider financial messes, but now we have become one.

Inflation is nearly 10%. This budget will push it higher thanks to a tumbling pound spiking import costs that will force the price of consumer goods and the already eye-wateringly high price of gas and oil to climb even higher. The number of home repossessions will also rise. The Bank of England has recognised what a disaster this Government’s economic policy shall be and is going to actively step-in and combat it. The Bank’s predicted interest rate rises are deemed necessary to tackle the spiralling inflation but will add a total £3.1 billion in mortgage bills to ordinary people’s lives. All this could have been avoided which makes it all the more infuriating.

The entire shambolic mess is immoral and deeply damaging. The levels to which the Conservatives are willing to debase themselves knows no bounds.

Wera Hobhouse MP Commented:

“The ‘mini-budget’ only serves to prove that this Chancellor is even more out of touch than the last. Every policy does nothing to tackle inequality. Tax cuts for the rich are prioritised whilst the average family struggles to make ends meet. It is shameful.

“This £45 billion in total tax giveaways at a time of spiralling inflation is reckless. The Conservatives have found their ‘magic moneytree’.

“The Chancellor lifted the bankers’ bonus cap, then announced he would actively force the poorest in society to work more hours. The Conservatives are not even trying to hide their contempt for ordinary people. I am deeply concerned on behalf of all my constituents who are being let down by this callous Government.”

ENDS