Budget games

In the UK Budget the Conservativegovernment continues perpetuating inequalities and cutting public services. They have made a massive cut to Scotland’s budget, with the lowest level given since devolution.

Their figures on the national debt fail to convince, with, for example, new money created by the government or money it owns added in. Index-linked bonds are not repayable now and costs needs to be in instalments, not all at once. There is no need to pay interest on new money to banks.

Changing the rules on interest would save billions and apparently enough for the Green New Deal, so desperately needed for the future. The Bank of England needs to cut interest rates – also needed to prevent an economic crash.

There is no need for austerity and destroying schools and the NHS… the idea that the UK has a finite amount of money is not true and is rejected by many economists. There is an arbitrary limit put on borrowing, which is about changing one form of money to another, not anything else. This is now just 3 per cent. But there is no science behind this figure.

Again, for political not financial reasons the Conservative government has a cap on welfarespending. there is no other cap on any other government spending. This hits the most vulnerable and is cruel.

Resources need to be brought forward for the nation with a different model. There needs to be investments in state education and the public NHS and the government needs to stop harming the planet and create food security. They should stop spending millions on breaking the law and trying to harm people, as in their failed Rwanda plan. The Budget is to help the nation, not play games with arbitrary figures.

Pol Yates Edinburgh