POLITICS: PRIME MINISTER DEFENDS HER ‘KAMIKAZE’ MINI BUDGET

heaneymedia

4 years ago

By Bill Heaney

Scotland’s “pretendy wee parliament” as Sir Billy Connolly once disparagingly called it is still chugging along in Edinburgh, but it appears to have its hands tied in relation to what it can do about the current economic crisis.

Westminster is still the place where the really big decisions are taken, and this became apparent at Prime Minister’s Questions in the House of Commons on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Liz Truss, on just her second appearance at PMQs as leader of the ruling Conservative Party, told MPs: “We have taken decisive action to make sure that people are not facing energy bills of £6,000 for two years.

“We remember that the Opposition are only talking about six months. We have also taken decisive action to make sure that we are not facing the highest taxes for 70 years in the face of a global economic slowdown.

“We are making sure that we protect our economy at this very difficult time internationally. As a result of our action—this has been independently corroborated—we will see higher growth and lower inflation.”

Ms Truss, whose period of office at 10 Downing Street is being widely tipped not to last much longer, was monstered by the Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer.

He was supported by MPs from right across the House. He told the PM: “Avoiding the question, ducking responsibility, lost in denial—it is no wonder investors have no confidence in her Government.”

The PM hit back, but unconvincingly, when she said: “The fact is that when I came into office, people were facing energy bills of up to £6,000 per year.

“He [Sir Keir] has refused to confirm whether he backs our energy price guarantee for two years, which protects families not just this winter but next winter.

“We are seeing interest rates rising globally. They are rising globally in the face of Putin’s appalling war in Ukraine. What we are doing is helping people with lower stamp duty, helping people with their energy costs, reducing inflation with our energy package and keeping taxes low. I notice that Sir Keir had a Damascene conversion last night when he backed our cut to national insurance.”

Sir Keir, right, responded testily: “The economy is in turmoil. People are really worried. This is really not the time to descend into nonsense attacks about last night. There is no point in trying to hide it; everyone can see what has happened.

“The Tories went on a borrowing spree, sending mortgage rates through the roof—they are skyrocketing by £500 a month—and for nearly two million homeowners, their fixed-rate deals are coming to an end next year.

“They are worried sick, and everybody in this House knows it. They will not forgive; they will not forget; and nor should they. When will the Prime Minister stop ducking responsibility, do the right thing and reverse her kamikaze Budget, which is causing so much pain?”

But the Prime Minister told him: “I am genuinely unclear as to what the Labour party’s policy is on our energy price guarantee. It was the biggest part of our mini-Budget. Are the Opposition saying that they want to reverse it and that they want to see people facing energy bills of £6,000? Is that what he is saying?”

Sir Keir replied: “The Prime Minister knows very well that, on this side, we voted against the national insurance rise in the first place. She voted for it, so who is doing the U-turn?

“The Prime Minister was forced to U-turn on her unfunded tax cut for the super-wealthy. This week, she is beginning to realise that she needs to extend the windfall tax, one step behind the CEO of Shell, but she is still going ahead with £18 billion of tax cuts for the richest businesses, and they did not even ask for it.

“She has still gift-wrapped a stamp duty cut for landlords, just as renters feel the pinch, and she is still holding out tax cuts for those who live off stocks and shares.

“Why does she expect working people to pick up the bill for her unfunded tax cuts for those at the top?”

He added: “The Prime Minister is not even attempting to answer the questions now. I gently remind her that the idea of freezing energy bills was a Labour idea that she took on. During her leadership contest the Prime Minister said, and I quote her exactly: ‘I’m very clear I’m not planning public spending reductions’. Is she going to stick to that?”

The Prime Minister replied: “Absolutely. Look, we have almost £1 trillion of public spending, and we were spending £700 billion back in 2010. We will make sure that, over the medium term, the debt is falling, and we will do that not by cutting public spending but by making sure we spend public money well.”

She said Sir Keir “talks about our spending on the energy price guarantee, which he does not seem to support, but the reality is that he cannot criticise us, on the one hand, for spending money while, on the other hand, claiming we are cutting public expenditure”.

But Sir Keir was not fazed. He told parliament: “Conservative Members can cheer. I hope they listened very carefully to that last answer, because other people will have listened very carefully.

“Who voted for this? Not homeowners paying an extra £500 on their mortgage. Who voted for this? Not working people paying for tax cuts for the largest companies. Who voted for this? Not even most of the MPs sitting behind her, who know they cannot pay for tax cuts on the never-never.

“Does she think the public will ever forgive the Conservative party if it keeps on defending this madness and goes ahead with its kamikaze Budget?”

The Prime Minister defended her position. She said: “What our Budget has delivered is security for families for the next two winters. It has made sure we will see higher economic growth, lower inflation and more opportunities.

“The way we are going to get our country growing is through more jobs, more growth and more opportunities, not through higher taxes, higher spending and his friends in the unions stopping hard-working people getting to work.”

By Bill Heaney

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