They’ve ended the onshore wind ban, expanded sick pay to 1 million low-paid workers, raised the minimum wage by 6.7%, taxed the wealthy to the tune of £15 billion a year to provide a real terms funding boost to all public services and NHS waiting lists are falling.
And all it took was the hiking of energy bills, water bills and council tax, the freezing of old people, the starving of kids and the immiseration of the disabled.
Energy prices are much lower than they were in 2022 and 2023. Old people did not freeze — mortality was historically pretty low this winter, energy prices were lower than last winter, and they got a 8.5% income boost. My council tax did go up by 4.99%, amounting to £3.88 a month. I’m happy to pay.
I am not. I am, however, concerned about what happened in the US this year, with millions of people who voted for Biden in 2020 staying at home or voting for third parties because his achievements weren’t highlighted enough and they didn’t think the alternative could be much worse.
Achievements like thousands of jobs going in universities, benefits cuts, increasing tax on working people via freezing the thresholds, eyeing further privitisation of the NHS with the closing of NHS England, taxing employers rather than wealth hurting jobs & care/charity sector etc etc
I am also concerned about the impact of worsening poverty on people choosing not to vote for Labour, or voting for Reform. Because 'Great British Energy' pales besides 'my Mum can't get carers allowance any more because Dad lost his PIP'.
All good stuff and I agree never given credit for. Unfortunately the world has turned on its head in the last four months and she needs to recognise that in the same way the incoming German government has. Effectively we're on a war footing both with trade and actual conflict.
To be fair, as the Institute for Government note, she did reverse the Tories’ planned cuts to capital investment, relaxing her fiscal rules to borrow an extra £25-30 billion a year for infrastructure.
And Germany do have much lower borrowing costs than us.
You're absolutely right, their fiscal position means they can do this much more easily, although they have still bent the rules somewhat to get it through.
I don't think there's an easy solution (wealth tax🙄) but she's going to have to do something not just squeeze the poorest
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To be fair, as the Institute for Government note, she did reverse the Tories’ planned cuts to capital investment, relaxing her fiscal rules to borrow an extra £25-30 billion a year for infrastructure.
And Germany do have much lower borrowing costs than us.
I don't think there's an easy solution (wealth tax🙄) but she's going to have to do something not just squeeze the poorest