Sunak mask slips to reveal Scrooge

IT WASN’T long ago that Rishi Sunak was being praised as the new face of 21st century Conservatism.

The Chancellor’s supporters claimed he had a fresh way of working that wasn’t bogged down in the old Tory ideologies.

His furlough scheme did offer unprecedented Government support for workers across the country – but that was a decision the Treasury had to make as the alternative was too grim for even the most right-wing Conservatives.

Sunak will next week deliver his mini-Budget and try to explain how the Government’s colossal coronavirus bills will be paid for.

It could be the time to start making the biggest multinational companies pay their fair share of tax or perhaps the country’s wealthiest individuals could shoulder a modest rise in income tax.

But this is a Tory Government. Instead, Sunak plans to freeze pay for millions of public sector workers across the UK.

Public sector workers in Scotland have their pay set by ministers at Holyrood but any cash for a rise is largely dependent on budget negotiations with the UK Treasury.

Sunak has already signalled a return to austerity, making him the kind of old school Tory many suspected he was all along.