David Cameron and Nick Clegg have failed every test and
broken every promise they’ve made on the economy.
They
promised we’d be all in this together but then they gave millionaires a huge
tax cut. They promised people would be better off. But most people in South Yorkshire and North Derbyshire are not
feeling the recovery. On average, working people are now £1,600 a year worse
off than in 2010.
It’s this cost-of-living crisis why the Chancellor had to admit that his key promise – to balance the nation’s books by next year – now lies in tatters.
Because
wages aren’t rising and too many are stuck in low-paid jobs, the tax revenues
we need to get the deficit down aren’t coming in.
They don’t understand the fundamental link between the
living standards of everyday working people and Britain’s ability to deal with
the deficit. George Osborne has now borrowed a staggering £219 billion
more than he said he would. Worse, the economy is set to slow down next year
after forecasts for wages have been revised down again. Yet he still tries to
claim that the economy is fixed and his plan is working. How out of touch can
you get?
The
alternative strategy is to raise the minimum wage, expand free childcare for
working parents, scrap the bedroom tax and cut business rates for small firms,
and reverse the £3 billion a year tax cut this government has given to the top
one per cent of earners. That would balance the books in a fairer way.
Changing
stamp duty to help people on middle and low incomes is welcome, but most of all
we also need to get more homes built.
David
Cameron, Nick Clegg and George Osborne promised to eliminate the deficit by
2015. But with less money coming in because of their wrong economic decisions,
they’ve broken their promise, failed their own economic test. Its hardworking
people who are paying the price. It’s time for an economic recovery for the
many, not just a few.