Latest news with #ToryAusterity
Yahoo
20-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Airport costs are plane crazy as Scots get financially hammered again
In a week when UK inflation was confirmed as rising again, it seems like Scots are getting hammered financially every way they turn. The Labour Government has boosted the minimum wage, the state pension and welfare spending has risen overall. But that can't undo the explosion in the cost of living in the immediate. aftermath of Tory austerity and the coronavirus pandemic. Wages have not kept pace, interest rates caused mortgages to soar and ordinary households have been hit by soaring fuel bills. At this time of year, those fortunate enough to enjoy a summer holiday abroad leave their worries at home for a week or two as they fly off to warmer climes. But Scots travellers are in for one final cost-of-living blow before they can even step on their plane. READ MORE: Man charged with Terrorism over 'Palestine Action poster at Scots property' READ MORE: Scottish island looking for Scots to relocate with accommodation provided Both Edinburgh and Glasgow airports are among those in the UK which have increased drop-off charges. An absurd fee for stopping for less than a minute. Edinburgh Airport raised the charges by £1, with Glasgow Airport adding 50p, bringing the charge for both airports to £6. It might not seem like much – until you consider most of the busiest EU airports have no equivalent charges. It's another reminder of just how expensive it is to live in the UK. And how those who own our major infrastructure – like airports, energy firms and banks – often treat the public with contempt. Teens get a voice The UK Government is right to give 16 and 17-year-olds the vote in general elections. The voting age was lowered in Scotland for the 2014 independence referendum. It was made permanent a year later and contributed to a much higher number of people getting out to vote at the 2016 and 2021 Holyrood elections. It works as a way of increasing participation and interest in politics. At 16, young people can leave school, get a job and pay taxes. In Scotland, they can get married and join the Armed Forces. They contribute to our country so ought to have a say on where the money they are taxed on is spent. As the American revolutionaries said during the late 18th century: 'No taxation without representation.' The result of the general election has a huge impact on their future, so they deserve to have a voice.
Daily Mirror
14-06-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mirror
'I skipped dinner so my parents could eat my food - child poverty must end'
Growing up Georgia Sullivan would force down food she didn't like – in case there was no food at home. Now the 26-year-old and four other young people are calling on the government to end child poverty. Growing up in poverty has left an indelible trace on Georgia Sullivan. "I grew up with a fear of food, because I wasn't used to eating different things," Georgia, now 26, explains. "I'd be at school eating things I didn't usually eat, and I remember gagging because I needed to eat the meal because we might not have anything to eat at home. That's a core memory for me. As I got older, I'd sometimes not eat in the evening so my parents could eat my food." Georgia from Nottingham, who grew up in North London and Stevenage adds: "Part of poverty is trying to pretend and act like things that are ordinary for other people aren't extraordinary for you. There were times growing up I was told not to open the door because of the bailiffs. All the physical things – like having nits for months because we couldn't afford the treatments – have a real impact. I'm dealing with the lasting consequences every day." On Wednesday, Georgia and four other young people who grew up in poverty will hand deliver a letter to Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson and Liz Kendall, Work and Pensions Secretary – who co-chair the government's Child Poverty Taskforce. From their own experiences, and as young ambassadors for Action For Children, these five young people know better than anyone that every day a child spends in poverty is one day too long. After 14 years of brutal Tory Austerity, Labour inherited staggering levels of child poverty, affecting around 4.5 million children – yet the government's flagship Child Poverty Strategy has become mired in delays. Spring became summer, and now the strategy has reportedly been delayed until at least the autumn. And while Wednesday's Spending Review saw a return from the Chancellor to core Labour values – full of bold plans for transport, the NHS, infrastructure – there was no mention of lifting the two-child benefit cap or other measures that could dramatically shift the dial on child poverty. As internal rows continue to rage over the two-child limit, and benefit cuts continue down the pipeline, every day more children go hungry and endure health and mental health problems, bullying and indignities that will shape their adult lives. So, Georgia and a group of young people have decided to act to remind Labour of its manifesto commitment to end child poverty. "Dear Bridget Phillipson and Liz Kendall," their letter says. "We know how it feels to grow up in poverty. We've felt the anxiety, shame, and loneliness that poverty causes. We felt it as children, and as adults we still feel it. We worry that we won't be able to keep our own children from it. "Your government has said 'no child should be left hungry, cold or have their future held back' by poverty… Hearing these promises, we feel hopeful - but we're also worried… the two-child limit remains in place, and other benefits are being cut." They urge the cabinet ministers – "Please make the right choices." After the welcome government U-turn on winter fuel, ministers can expect to be deluged by anti-poverty charities over the coming weeks, pushing for action on the two-child benefit cap. Paul Carberry, CEO of Action for Children, welcomes the additional funding for children's social care, social housing, and the expansion of free school meals in the Spending Review. But he adds: "If this government is to succeed in its bold ambition to drive down the UK's shamefully high levels of child poverty, it must go further. The Child Poverty Strategy this autumn must rebuild our inadequate social security system, starting with scrapping the two-child limit and benefit cap." Another of the letter's co-authors, Louise Fitt, 24, from West London, says growing up in poverty has deeply affected her adult life. "Childhood poverty affected me in every sense, from not having enough to eat, to coming home and there being no money on the meter to have a hot shower or watch TV," she says. "We didn't have enough money for school uniforms, and we would wear our shoes until they were worn out. Not eating enough affected my concentration at school. We were underweight, malnourished. I couldn't go on school trips with my friends. I didn't know at the time we didn't' really have money, I thought I was being punished." At the age of 11, Louise went into care, and later became a young parent. "I now work full-time as a civil servant but it's still a struggle to make ends meet," she says. "Many care leavers like me lack the support networks that most people take for granted. But when you come from nothing, it makes you more determined. I started with nothing, but I want to leave knowing I have achieved something and leave a legacy for my daughter." Jo Rawle, 26, lives in Bideford, North-Devon. Having lived through childhood poverty, now – as a solo parent living in temporary accommodation – she fears history repeating for her four-year-old son. "My son has autism and complex additional needs," she says. "That means it's difficult for me to work until he starts school. Meanwhile, everything has gone up. Sometimes I run out of money to buy a bottle of milk or nappies or fuel, then I have to borrow money from a friend, which I have to pay back later." Jo's benefits income is not enough to support her and her son. "I've visited food banks before. I make sure my son comes first. I've gone without a meal myself and I wear my clothes until they have holes in them." A Government spokesman said: "We are determined to lift more children out of poverty. We have already expanded free school meals, increased the national minimum wage, rolled out breakfast clubs and introduced a fair repayment rate for universal credit deductions. And this week the spending review allocated £1bn in crisis support, including funding to feed hungry children during the holidays. We are determined to go further and that's why we will publish an ambitious Child Poverty Strategy later this year." The Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has told the Mirror in the past about her family being 'pushed into poverty' when she was a child and has called child poverty "a scar on our society". "I know what it is to grow up on free school meals, to grow up in a household where there isn't enough: when the house is cold, the food runs short, when the choices about which others don't think twice just aren't there," she has said. In Wednesday's Spending Review speech, Chancellor Rachel Reeves said that "every young person should have the equal chance to succeed". Young campaigners Georgia, Freya, Aaron, Louise, Holly and 4.5 million children are counting on Labour to make the right decisions.
The Guardian
09-06-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
The Guardian view on Labour's tough choices: they are costing the government dearly
The Labour government's abrupt U-turn on winter fuel payments – restoring the benefit to more than three-quarters of pensioners – reveals less a change of heart than a sobering realisation in Westminster: after years of austerity, the public no longer gives politicians the benefit of the doubt. The irony is hard to miss. Labour set out to prove that 'grown-up' economics means difficult decisions – only to find that once trust is lost, voters won't accept vague promises without tangible results. It turns out many are sceptical that sacrifices will produce better results for society. That's why ministers are struggling to justify cuts to disability benefits as a way to 'fund' public services – or to convince the public that Britain can't afford to lift the two-child benefit cap even as ministers claim they will reduce child poverty. There may be more conspicuous retreats ahead for the government. Sir Keir Starmer and his chancellor, Rachel Reeves, had wanted a series of symbolic breaks with Labour's traditional base to prove that only by making tough choices could they deliver £113bn in new public investment. Instead, the last year has become a cautionary tale: ministers elected to repudiate Tory austerity are now seen to be replicating it – and voters have noticed, with Labour's poll numbers sliding as a result. In such a climate, appeals to fiscal rectitude don't receive gratitude but suspicion. The government's volte-face over pensioner benefits only reinforces the sense it was driven by a backlash, not conviction. This dynamic isn't new but it has radically reshaped Labour's own base – and should be a warning to the party for its future. Working-class voters once formed Labour's backbone; now many vote for no one at all. This isn't about lacking education or income. Throughout the postwar decades, working-class turnout matched that of the middle classes. As Geoffrey Evans and James Tilley of Oxford University wrote in their book The New Politics of Class, the drop came only when their political representation vanished. As parties converged and Labour abandoned its working-class roots, political choice disappeared. Labour's traditional base didn't stop voting because they couldn't – they stopped because there was nothing left to vote for. Brexit reshaped politics, but not as radically as many claim. Today's class politics has been built on culture wars and channelled through identity and belonging. The warning by the former Bank of England chief economist Andy Haldane that Nigel Farage is now seen by many as the closest thing Britain has to a 'tribune for the working class' should be taken seriously. Citing Reform UK's surge in the polls, he pointed to a 'moral rupture' between voters and mainstream politicians, accusing Labour of fuelling disillusionment through a weak growth strategy and unpopular decisions on benefits. While not declaring Reform the definitive working-class party, Mr Haldane stressed that what matters is perception – and right now, many working-class voters believe Mr Farage speaks for them more than anyone else. Labour's spending review this week looks like an attempt to reframe its offer around extra cash for frontline services such as health and education. That is welcome. Less so will be the real-terms cuts in unprotected departments that Ms Reeves's fiscal rules demand to account for such commitments. If this reset is not visible and felt by voters soon, the door swings open wider to Mr Farage and his hard-right politics.
The Guardian
27-05-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
By delaying its child poverty plan, Labour has a chance to reverse 15 years of inequality
As Labour continues its inquest into the reasons for its local election losses, attention has focused on the pensioners' winter fuel allowance and the changes in incapacity benefit. And in the past few days, there have been internal criticisms of the decision to delay the publication of its child poverty review. But Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves have made the right call in delaying until the autumn. This new timetable means that the government is not only consulting widely, determined that Labour must never lose its reputation for fairness, but also considering how to fund the changes the child poverty review will propose – something only the budget can address. I know from my 10 years as chancellor that the public spending statement Reeves will deliver next month (which is not like a budget where tax and spending announcements are made together) will not be able to undo the scale of the damage done to the 4.5 million children in poverty – the ever-increasing victims of the long tail of Tory austerity. Only a budget in which, for example, a gambling or a banking levy can be announced, can generate the more than £3bn that would cover the estimated cost of abolishing the two-child cap and take nearly half a million children out of poverty to meet the election promise 'to end mass dependence on emergency food parcels', and honour the mandate given to the child poverty taskforce in this parliament to ensure a 'reduction in child poverty'. By investing in children, we will affirm our moral purpose and deliver the promised 'decade of national renewal'. The Conservative years of austerity may now feel distant in our minds. But from their political grave, David Cameron and George Osborne's pre-determined, post-dated decisions are still casting a dark shadow, making Labour's task difficult. The two-child limit was announced in 2017, but applied only to children born after that time. This timebomb set by the Conservatives means that about 50,000 more children each year experience its poverty-making effects – this will continue until 2035, when the policy will finally apply to every family with a third child under 18. Already nearly one in two children in Birmingham (46%) and Manchester (44%) are living in poverty, and in some local communities the figure rises to 85%. By the time the Tory policy agenda has run its course, more than five million children will have been cast into poverty. Shakespeare was right: 'The evil that men do lives after them.' For a time, the bogus self-serving Tory claim seemed acceptable to the public: that middle-class parents were unable to afford to have more children because they were paying taxes to subsidise work-shy, feckless parents having additional children just to game the benefit system. But this allegation was never accurate. About 70% of children in poverty – more than 3 million – are in working families, and most of the rest are in families hit by sickness, redundancy or a shortage of childcare. Indeed, we know that most of the half a million children who have been thrust into poverty in the past few years are not part of a permanent class of families trapped in dependency culture: instead, 60% of families caught by the two-child benefit rule have at least one adult in work. If the Conservatives had listened to parents, they would have discovered that it is invariably family crises, like a bereavement, cancer, or time out of work between jobs, that caused them to fall temporarily below the poverty line. To her credit, in her spending review, Reeves will announce radical measures to prevent homelessness and destitution especially in 75 of the UK's most deprived areas, including introducing more breakfast clubs and new family hubs, along the lines of Sure Start, which helped a previous generation of children from low-income families realise their talents. And she will be able to show from the success of Sure Start that savings from early interventions are twice as big as the costs. But child poverty cannot be eradicated by breakfast clubs or family hubs alone. Breakfasts are worth about £9 a week off the family budget, and cannot compensate for the harm caused by Osborne's cut in benefits of £66 a week for a family with three children, and £132 from a family of four. Indeed, evidence shows that the most cost-effective way to take 350,000 children out of poverty immediately and rescue 700,000 from deep poverty is replacing the two-child rule. If this is the case, the public say they will support the change. According to new opinion polling that I commissioned, Seventy-five percent also believe poverty is 'morally wrong' and almost as many are acutely embarrassed that Britain has fallen far behind Ireland, the Netherlands and the Nordic countries in the way we treat our most vulnerable children. There are a number of ways in which we can remedy this injustice. Frame new spending around an education premium or special financial support to help children be properly fed and equipped to succeed at school. If only 65% of children are poverty-free at the age of five, it is impossible to achieve the government's most recently stated objective of 75% of children being ready for school by 2028. The government could also place conditions on its receipt, from requiring children to attend school or parents to attend parenting classes. What matters is that children should not suffer and have their potential destroyed because of poverty. According to the new poll, the public not only agrees that we must invest in the next generation, but also that all of us benefit if children grow up to be healthy, educated and productive members of society. Once 'don't knows' are eliminated from the sample, 85% favour a £3bn tax on gambling, and 75% favour a tax on the banks – most also agreeing to earmark the money for poverty reduction. That is one reason why changing the two-child rule will have support from the Lib Dems, the nationalist parties in Scotland and Wales, the Greens and Reform UK. But do note the Farage promise to restore tax credits to children in low-income families has to be set against his 'Contract with you', which would hit the very same children with £150bn of spending cuts, and the effective privatisation of the NHS. Fairness has always been a watchword of the British public. A fairness guarantee would mean that no one is condemned to poverty as a result of changes in pensioners' allowances or incapacity benefit. This funding for an anti-poverty lock would also mean that every child is prepared for school and supported during their schooling. For the first time in 15 years, we can ensure for that all children get the finest possible start in life. Gordon Brown was UK prime minister 2007 to 2010
