Chancellor Sunak branded ‘Mr Tax’ as backlash to Spring Statement grows
Rishi Sunak has been branded “Mr Tax” by Labour as the backlash to his Spring Statement grows.
Shadow work and pensions secretary Jon Ashworth accused him of “acting in his own interest” and making a conscious decision to force people into poverty.
The Labour minister warned pensioners were “cutting back on hot meals” and “forgoing hot showers” as they cannot afford the cost.
Mr Ashworth told Sophy Ridge On Sunday on Sky News: “Rishi Sunak absolutely had more room for manoeuvre in this spring statement and mini budget, but rather than acting in the interests of the British people, he was playing games.
“He was acting in his own interest because he thinks by offering an income tax cut in two years that’ll help him politically with Conservative MPS if there’s a leadership contest or that’ll fit the Tory election grid.
“I don’t believe that putting 1.3 million people into poverty because you’re imposing a very severe real-terms cut to universal credit, you’re imposing the biggest cut to the pension in 50 years, is fair.”
The Government will uprate benefits by 3.1 per cent in April although the inflation rate is
expected to average nearly 8 per cent over the year.
Mr Ashworth said Mr Sunak should have imposed a “windfall tax” on the profits of oil and gas companies to generate funds to help struggling families and pensioners with energy bills.
He said: “He chose not to do that.
“Instead, he’s imposed these very punishing tax rises, these very severe real-terms cuts to the pension and support like universal credit, and he’s expecting people to be grateful because two years down the road he’s saying there’s going to be an income tax cut even though that income tax cut nowhere near offsets the 15 tax rises that he has imposed on the British people, £3,000 extra per household if you do a rough and ready calculation.
“He is a tax-rising Chancellor, he is Mr Tax and it’s the British people who are paying the price.”
Mr Ashworth also told Times Radio that the Chancellor had taken a conscious decision to "push 1.3 million people into poverty, because he thinks that's a price worth paying."
He said: “The war in Ukraine didn't cut Universal Credit by £20 a week and nor did the global energy markets break the triple lock on the basic state pension, they were ministerial decisions.
"We would be in a better place, if we hadn't had 12 wasted years now.
"The Conservatives are hacking away at the roots of growth. And there were different choices he could have made.”
Earlier Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi said it would be irresponsible to say “job done” by Mr Sunak over the cost-of-living crisis.
He said: “I think he will continue to keep an eye on this, it’s only right.
“It’s irresponsible for me to say ‘job done’ because energy prices are volatile, inflation remains high, so it would be absolutely irresponsible to say ‘job done’.
“But I think £22 billion, in one year, of help when you’ve just spent £400 billion is the right thing to do.”
Mr Sunak has also been under attack from political rivals over his wife's stake in an Indian multinational operating in Russia.
Labour said the Chancellor has "very serious questions to answer" over Akshata Murty's shares in Infosys, a firm cofounded by her father.
Mr Sunak has said he has "nothing to do" with the company.
He has encouraged UK firms to sever ties with Russia to punish Vladimir Putin over his invasion of Ukraine.
Downing Street told reporters on Friday that Ms Murty's stake in Infosys was a "personal issue for the chancellor".
Software giant Infosys is one of India's biggest companies, with a presence in about 50 countries around the world.
It was co-founded by Ms Murty's billionaire father Narayana, who retired in 2014, but retains a small stake in it along with other members of his family.
Ms Murty's 0.9 per cent shareholding in Infosys is thought to be worth more than £400m.
A spokesperson for Mr Sunak has said neither she nor any members of her family "have any involvement in the operational decisions of the company".
In 2016, Infosys set up an engineering centre in Moscow to support its customer, Ansaldo Energia, which was developing gas turbines to sell to Russian power plants, and other clients.
After russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, many global IT giants, including Oracle and SAP, suspended operations in the Russian Federation, and expressed solidarity with the Ukrainian people.
Infosys is among those who continue to operate there, saying it has a "small team of employees based out of Russia that services some of our global clients, locally".
"We do not have any active business relationships with local Russian enterprises," it added in a statement.
"Infosys supports and advocates for peace between Russia and Ukraine," the company said, and had committed $1m to "relief efforts for the victims of war from Ukraine".
The United Kingdom has restricted its trade with Russia via sanctions in the wake of its invasion last month – a move not replicated by India.
Mr Sunak has said he would su pp or tuk firms that voluntarily cut ties with Russia in a bid to inflict" economic pain" on president Vladimir Put in.
Nearly half of children from lowincome households ‘worry about family’s finances’
Nearly a third (30 per cent) of children worry about their family having enough to live on comfortably as the cost of living crisis deepens, according to a charity.
Action for Children commissioned surveys of more than 5,000 adults and children aged as young as 11 to explore the biggest issues affecting childhood.
Nearly half (47 per cent) of children surveyed from lowincome backgrounds (where the household annual income was less than £20,000) said they worry about their family's finances, compared with one in seven (14 per cent) children from high-income families (where the household income was more than £70,000 annually).
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) said last week that households are facing the biggest squeeze in living standards since records
began in 1956-57. Action for Children said that, two years on from the first national lockdown, mental health was now a much bigger worry for children, with less than a third (29 per cent) of children seeing their own mental health as an issue in 2019, compared with 42 per cent in 2022.
Covering up a worry is common for children, the research suggested, with nearly six in ten (57 per cent) hiding worries from their parents.
Parents appear to be in tune with this, with 60 per cent believing their child keeps their worries hidden.
Over a third (38 per cent) of children believe they will have a brighter future than their parents.
More than half of parents (56 per cent) and grandparents (52 per cent) feel too much time spent on devices and social media make it more difficult for children to fulfil their
potential – but only a third (33 per cent) of children agree.
The findings were published as Action for Children launched its new "star in every child" campaign to help its workers deliver support to vulnerable children.
Imran Hussain, director of policy and campaigns at Action for Children, said: "Day in, day out our frontline staff support children grappling to see how they fit into our complex world – navigating big issues including financial worries, climate change and the pandemic.
"Sadly, since we conducted our research, intensifying money worries and the war in Ukraine will leave children feeling the world is a gloomier place.
"The likely fall-out of the Ukraine conflict with even higher energy bills and inflation rates not seen for a generation is a double blow for
low-income families already locked in a crippling cost-ofliving crisis.
"The pandemic also continues to hang heavy, and its impact will be felt long into children's futures."
A Government spokesperson said: "The latest official figures show there were 300,000 fewer children in poverty after housing costs than in 2010 and we continue to provide extensive support to reduce this number further, recognising the pressures people are facing with the cost of living and providing support worth £22 billion this financial year and next to help.
"This includes putting an average of £1,000 more per year into the pockets of working families via changes to universal credit, cutting fuel duty and helping households with their energy bills through our £9.1 billion Energy Bills Rebate.”