Wythenshawe MP Mike Kane has dismissed the Chancellor’s budget as tokenistic which will fail to address the chaos of Universal Credit.
Dubbed, Philip Hammond’s giveway gamble, yesterday’s budget promised extra cash for the NHS, schools and funds to ease the roll out of the controversial Universal Credit reforms.
But Labour MP, Mr Kane said the cash “doesn’t eve touch the sides.” He told the reporter: “Yesterday, the Cannounced a broken promise budget. Despite what the Chancellor claims, austerity is not over. Cuts to social security will continue, schools, councils and police are all suffering.
“The Chancellor’s £1.7bn tokenistic promise for Universal Credit doesn’t get close to reversing the £7bn cuts already planned, nor does it address the huge fundamental problems with the Government’s disastrous programme. I hear every day how families across Wythenshawe and Sale East are suffering with the Tories’ broken system and this extra cash doesn’t even touch the sides.”
Mr Hammond was able to promise more spending because an unexpected boost due to higher than anticipated tax receipts and revised economic forecasts by the Office for Budget Responsibility.
But those forecasts could easily change for the worse, leaving the chancellor in a tight spot, says the Institute for Fiscal Studies.
The think tank also warned that many public services will continue to feel squeezed for some time to come. “This is no bonanza,” said Paul Johnson, the director of the IFS, told the BBC.
“If I were a prison governor, a local authority chief executive or a head teacher, I would struggle to find much to celebrate. I would be preparing for more difficult years ahead.”
Health spending is the exception, with £20bn extra funding promised to help the NHS and pay for mental health services.