Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
OUR PAIN THEIR FAULT Economic growth since Covid-19
MILLIONS of people battered by the disastrous Tory mini-budget were yesterday warned they face even more financial misery.
Jeremy Hunt stepped up the war on ordinary people with his Autumn Statement as we pay the price for Kwasi Kwarteng and Liz Truss’s economic blunders eight weeks ago.
With officials declaring the country is already in recession, the Chancellor targeted those struggling on Universal Credit and benefits, while handing tax breaks to bankers.
He unveiled a brutal £55billion package of spending cuts, tax hikes and raised energy bills.
Forecasts show living standards this year will suffer the biggest fall since records began in 1956.
Around 55% of households are to be worse off, according to a Treasury analysis. Household disposable income is likely to tumble 4.3% this year, due to soaring inflation. No10’s Budget watchdog warned the recession will last more than a year and wipe 2.1% off the economy. It also predicted unemployment will rise by 500,000 to 1.7 million, house prices could plummet by 9% and the UK will have the lowest growth in the G7 group of developed countries.
Mr Hunt predictably tried to shift the blame on to global events such as Covid and Ukraine.
But Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves said: “The mess we are in is not just a result of 12 weeks of Conservative chaos, but 12 years of Conservative economic failure.
“All the country got today was an invoice for the economic carnage that this Government has created.”
The Resolution Foundation’s Torsten Bell added: “When we are talking about winners and losers, we are all losers when it comes to the current situation and the next few years as the country as a whole is getting poorer.”
Mr Hunt’s Budget leaves Britain facing the highest level of taxation since the Second World War.
Total receipts are expected to top
£1trillion for the first time this year, rising to £1.2trillion by 2027.
As part of a string of stealth raids, Mr Hunt announced he will freeze the income tax personal allowance at £12,570 until April 2028.
Anyone who earns more starts paying income tax. Almost six million are to be dragged into a higher band.
Families face a £250 hike in council tax bills by 2027 as the Chancellor gave the go-ahead for 5% annual rises.
A planned fuel duty rise next March will raise the price of petrol and diesel by around 12p a litre, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility.
But energy bills for a typical home will rise from £2,500 a year to £3,000 as the price cap is raised next April.
More than 600,000 people on Universal Credit will be asked to meet with a work coach “so they can get support to increase their hours”.
These are economically inactive adults, who for a variety of reasons, such as childcare or long Covid, struggle to find work.
Mr Hunt also announced an extra £280million for the Department for Work and Pensions to crack down on benefit fraud, which costs the UK a fraction of what tax evasion does.
Mr Hunt refused to apologise for the blunders by former PM Ms Truss and ex-chancellor Mr Kwarteng. Or for the misery inflicted on the nation under previous leaders such as Boris Johnson and Theresa May.
Trying to deflect blame, he said: “There is a global energy crisis, a global inflation crisis and a global economic crisis. We aren’t immune to these headwinds.”
In one glimmer of good news, the Tories have backed away from their threat not to raise pensions and benefits in line with inflation.
@johnestevens