On the Spring 2020 Budget
Today, the budget for the first quarter of 2020 was announced by Rishi Sunak, Chancellor of the Exchequer for only six weeks now. Although very different from previous Conservative government budgets due to announcements about investments into public services to combat the COVID-19 strain of coronavirus, as well as plans to open Treasury offices in Scotland, Wales and the North of England which were all previously unfriendly to the Conservatives, there are five main reasons why it is just an exercise in short-term placation:
1. If we were not experiencing a coronavirus outbreak, it is doubtful there would be talk of such investment in the NHS. Furthermore fundamental problems with the NHS are not being addressed by the budget
2. The taxation part of the budget means relatively little. £85 extra per year from a higher tax threshold for National Insurance Contributions will make little or no difference whatsoever, although the scrapping of the "tampon tax" will mean a great deal for women.
3. The contradiction between environmental and transport budget proposals in environmental terms is too serious to ignore. At the same time as proposing a plastic packaging tax, which will be a useful prelude to outlawing plastic packaging altogether, the budget is also promising to invest as much as £27,000,000,000 on new roads, when it is already clear we do not need any more roadbuilding given its contribution to man-made climate change via increased car traffic. Investment in electric cars is
4. The housing proposals in the budget mean relatively little. A much overdue revaluation of council tax bands was not on the agenda, nor any more help for first time buyers. The 2% surcharge will make little difference to or be dodged by most foreign buyers, who tend to have assets in the millions of pounds at least.
5. The proposed investment in the North of England, Scotland and Wales leaves major gaps unplugged. Councils have lost 60% of their budget in the last 10 years; north of the Watford gap this means 70% or more in practice. We do not need any more "metro mayors" either, given the danger of concentrating so much regional power in the hands of just one person, and West Yorkshire, with large rural areas in Calderdale and Kirklees, is not suitable for such an arrangement anyway. Also, rural poverty blackspots south of the Humber like East Anglia and rural West England are not even mentioned in these plans-where is the investment for reinvigoration there given how badly these areas will lose now we are out of the European Union?
1. If we were not experiencing a coronavirus outbreak, it is doubtful there would be talk of such investment in the NHS. Furthermore fundamental problems with the NHS are not being addressed by the budget
2. The taxation part of the budget means relatively little. £85 extra per year from a higher tax threshold for National Insurance Contributions will make little or no difference whatsoever, although the scrapping of the "tampon tax" will mean a great deal for women.
3. The contradiction between environmental and transport budget proposals in environmental terms is too serious to ignore. At the same time as proposing a plastic packaging tax, which will be a useful prelude to outlawing plastic packaging altogether, the budget is also promising to invest as much as £27,000,000,000 on new roads, when it is already clear we do not need any more roadbuilding given its contribution to man-made climate change via increased car traffic. Investment in electric cars is
4. The housing proposals in the budget mean relatively little. A much overdue revaluation of council tax bands was not on the agenda, nor any more help for first time buyers. The 2% surcharge will make little difference to or be dodged by most foreign buyers, who tend to have assets in the millions of pounds at least.
5. The proposed investment in the North of England, Scotland and Wales leaves major gaps unplugged. Councils have lost 60% of their budget in the last 10 years; north of the Watford gap this means 70% or more in practice. We do not need any more "metro mayors" either, given the danger of concentrating so much regional power in the hands of just one person, and West Yorkshire, with large rural areas in Calderdale and Kirklees, is not suitable for such an arrangement anyway. Also, rural poverty blackspots south of the Humber like East Anglia and rural West England are not even mentioned in these plans-where is the investment for reinvigoration there given how badly these areas will lose now we are out of the European Union?
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