Beverley’s Labour Party members have hit out at the Budget branding it nothing more than ‘smoke and mirrors’ adding it will fuel poverty.
Labour’s comments come after the Phillip Hammond delivered his 2018 Autumn Budget.
George McManus a member of Labour in Beverley says despite the budget people face more tough times ahead.
“Austerity has not ended. The Chancellor is using smoke and mirrors to hide the reality,” said Mr McManus. “People on Universal Credit will suffer further, homelessness will increase and he also did nothing for the disabled or most vulnerable.”
“Both the Resolution Foundation and the Trussell Trust which runs half of the area’s Foodbanks have expressed concerns. They have declared that measures announced in the budget will fail to support low and middle-income families.”
The Chancellor promised to make more money available to help local authorities. However, some critics say that the money made available is just papering over the cracks created by the cuts.
Mr McManus is concerned that locally and nationally the country is on the brink of an economic crisis. More cuts are still in the pipeline with local authorities firmly in the sights of the government.
People Face Tough Times Ahead That Will Be Caused By More Budget Cuts
“Local authority budgets will be slashed further and poverty will increase,” added Mr McManus. “He mentioned Brexit once and yet this is the biggest economic crisis facing the country.”
“He made a lot of noise but with little content reminiscent of Macbeth. Out, out brief candle. Told by an idiot. Full of sound and fury. Signifying nothing.”
As the dust settles on the budget those set to benefit most will be the higher earners who pay 40pc on their tax. Leaders of opposition parties have dismissed claims the poorest will be better off.
Also, it is still unclear as to how much of the budget proposal will come to fruition with so much depending on a deal with the EU over Brexit.
