Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng delivered a mini budget unfit to purpose by giving away a large slice of the government’s current income to rely heavily on borrowing instead. Cuts in government income and National Insurance is sure to have an impact on this government’s abilities to deliver on previous promises of improvements to the NHS and the seemingly forgotten pledge of ‘ levelling-up’. What’s also gone from the mandate of which this government was elected to do is the commitment to ‘Net Zero’ by scrapping or postponing the funding which was set aside to do this. So on almost all mandates from the 2019 Conservative Election Manifesto they have broken almost every Election Pledge. This goes to show that the Tories can’t be trusted to deliver.
Trickle Down Economics doesn’t work
Now Kwarteng is gambling with the economy. He has tried to convince us that he is a genius but instead he has shown that he has only a rudimentary grasp of economics. His most recent attempt shows that he can master smoke and mirrors. The majority of us in the UK will receive a mere 1 penny in the pound amounting to 2 bars of soap and a litre of milk over the course of a month and we are supposed to be grateful for that: whilst the rich benefit disproportionately. This is another attempt to install a failed economic theory first tried out by Margaret Thatcher. It didn’t work then and it won’t work now. It’s not a new idea it’s a rehash of Thatcherism. Trickle down economics doesn’t work. All it does is increase the divide between the rich and the poor and opens the door for the richest to exploit the poorest with unemployment and wage slashing.
To achieve this Kwarteng has sacrificed the government’s income and instead has reverted to borrowing to keep the County afloat. This equates to a situation of being afloat in the middle of the ocean in a boat full of holes which is sinking, whilst sending out a Mayday call to the Super Rich to come and rescue us. I doubt there will be much interest as the Rich will just remain at home counting their increased riches which this mini budget has so kindly laid at their doorstep.
Labour’s plans were to increase government funding through investment to benefit everyone: Tory mini budget benefits only the richest
In stark contrast with this is the economic examples of what Labour would have achieved if Jeremy Corbyn had won the 2019 General Election. In his most recent interview with Nick Robinson from the BBC. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-63011119 . In this interview Mr Corbyn contrasts Labour’s investment plans in comparison with Kwarteng’s borrowing plans. Labour’s aims are to grow the economy which comes from increased investment to generate funds for the government. Labour’s plans are to increase government funding through investment by taking back into public ownership the Energy Providers and the Railways. Any initial borrowing was going to be done to re-nationalise the same companies that are now exploiting us. So this would eventually have been a source of income for the UK Government. Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng are instead protecting the richest sector of Britain whilst reducing much needed Government funding and giving it back to the richest. Thus depriving the NHS and the other areas where public funding is needed most. Plans for Levelling -up have seemingly been shelved because where is the money going to come from? Kwarteng is borrowing time to get to the next general election and duping the public on the way. He is hoping you will be satisfied with your 1p in the Pound tax cut. Hardly the massive tax cut that Liz Truss was promising it turns out to be just another empty promise by the Tories. Contrast Labour’s thought through plans with Kwarteng’s plan to borrow, borrow and borrow some more until a time comes when Britain is bankrupt and can no longer get any credit. Kwarteng’s plans are unsound and rely heavily on the goodwill of the very rich to come to the rescue. Also Kwarteng’s plans are making the Bank of England drive up the Intrest Rate so when you gain a penny they take 10 pennies back off you. So Kwarteng’s smoke and mirrors turns out to be a very transparent trick indeed and the audience feels cheated out of even the admission fee to this shambolic and amateur performance. Britain deserves better. The Truss and Kwarteng show has got off to a very poor start with 2 very amateur performers starring in the lead roles.