This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/nov/22/jeremy-corbyn-budget-shows-tories-are-unfit-for-office

The article has changed 7 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 1 Version 2
Jeremy Corbyn: budget shows Tories are unfit for office Tory MPs rally around Hammond's budget after Corbyn attacks
(about 4 hours later)
Jeremy Corbyn has lambasted the budget, saying it completely fails to deal with a national crisis of stagnation and falling wages, and telling Philip Hammond it epitomised the woes of “a government no longer fit for office”. Conservative MPs have countered Jeremy Corbyn’s swingeing criticism of the budget as the work of “a government no longer fit for office” with a broad endorsement of Philip Hammond, in sharp contrast to their open reservations about the chancellor’s plans last year.
In a 25-minute response to the budget the Labour leader largely avoided direct comment on the chancellor’s announcement and instead focused on wider themes about the effects of austerity on public services, and people’s struggles with flat wages and benefit cuts. Hammond’s colleagues used the first of four days of scheduled debate about the budget to praise not just his high-profile announcements on housing, but also his commitment of £3bn to prepare for any Brexit eventuality.
“The test of a budget is how it affects the reality of people’s lives all around this country,” Corbyn began. “And I believe as the days go ahead, and this budget unravels, the reality will be – a lot of people will be no better off. And the misery that many are in will be continuing.” In his response to the budget, Corbyn – it is the leader of the opposition who traditionally speaks rather than the shadow chancellor – said Hammond had completely failed to tackle a national crisis of stagnation and falling wages.
With pay lower than in 2010 and real wages falling, the Conservatives had presided over “a record of failure, with more to come”, he said. Noting that the target for eradicating the deficit had moved progressively from 2015 to 2025, he added: “They’re missing their major targets, but the failed and damaging policy of austerity remains.” “The test of a budget is how it affects the reality of people’s lives all around this country,” the Labour leader said. “And I believe as the days go ahead, and this budget unravels, the reality will be – a lot of people will be no better off. And the misery that many are in will be continuing.”
Highlighting themes he regularly raises at prime minister’s questions, Corbyn noted the effect on budgets for schools, the police and NHS. Largely eschewing direct focus on Hammond’s specific announcements in favour of a broader critique of the government’s wider economic approach, Corbyn castigated Hammond for again missing deficit reduction targets, and for a continued spending squeeze on schools and the police.
Speaking about housing – upon which some of Hammond’s most eye-catching announcements had focused – Corbyn said rough sleeping had doubled since 2010, and that this Christmas 120,000 children would be living in temporary accommodation. “We need a large-scale publicly funded housebuilding programme, not this government’s accounting tricks and empty promises.” Speaking about housing, Corbyn said rough sleeping had doubled since 2010, and that this Christmas 120,000 children would be living in temporary accommodation. “We need a large-scale publicly funded housebuilding programme, not this government’s accounting tricks and empty promises.”
In another move transferred from prime minister’s questions, Corbyn used examples of people who had contacted him over problems with government policies. Summing up, he said: “We were promised a revolutionary budget. The reality is nothing has changed. People were looking for help from this budget. They have been let down. Let down by a government that, like the economy they’ve presided over, is weak and unstable and in need of urgent change. They call this budget ‘Fit for the Future’. The reality is this is a government no longer fit for office.”
One of these people, Corbyn said, was Martin, a full-time worker on the minimum wage whose pay arrived on a four-weekly cycle, meaning that he had his universal credit (UC) stopped when two pay packets arrived in a single month, and that had forced him to go to a food bank. The response from the bulk of Conservatives who spoke on the first day of debate was generally positive.
Rather than wanting to alter some elements of the UC system (as Hammond did in the budget) Corbyn reiterated his call for its national rollout to be paused. “That is the humiliation that he and so many other have gone through because of the problems of universal credit,” he said, referring to Martin’s experience. “Wouldn’t it be better to pause the whole thing and look at the problems it has caused?” Hammond’s first budget as chancellor last year had been marked by a humiliating U-turn on his most high-profile plan, to increase national insurance contributions for the self-employed, within a week. But this year members praised the £3bn funding for Brexit planning.
Another person highlighted was a school science technician, Robert, who, Corbyn said, was demoralised by stagnant pay and cuts to school budgets. Ministers argued that schools had sufficient money, Corbyn said. “According to this government, 5,000 headteachers are wrong, Robert is wrong, the IFS is wrong, everybody is wrong except the chancellor.” Cheryl Gillan, who supported leave, said the money was “very important”. She told the Commons: “We do have to create an environment where we don’t have uncertainty about the economic impact and I hope that money will go towards providing more certainty in that area.”
The Labour leader also noted the impact of the Grenfell Tower fire in London, in June, saying that while ministers were resisting council requests for funds to retro-fit sprinkler systems to tower blocks, when parliament was restored it would have sprinklers added. He said: “The message is pretty clear. This government cares more about what happens here than happens to people living in high rise homes – in effect saying they matter less.” The first MP to speak after Hammond and Corbyn was Nicky Morgan, the Conservative former education secretary, who chairs the Commons Treasury committee, a role she took after the election.
Summing up, Corbyn said the UK under the Conservatives was marked by growing inequality and injustice. “We were promised a revolutionary budget. The reality is nothing has changed. People were looking for help from this budget. They have been let down. Let down by a government that, like the economy they’ve presided over, is weak and unstable and in need of urgent change. They call this budget ‘Fit for the Future’. The reality is this is a government no longer fit for office.” Morgan, one of the more vocal Brexit sceptics on the Tory back benches, welcomed Hammond’s plans, but noted that the financial models were based around a “relatively benign” departure from the EU.
She said: “That cannot be guaranteed, and even though a transitional arrangement that would allow for such a smooth adjustment is manifestly in the interests of both the UK and the EU, it might, of course, not happen.”
On future funding for the NHS and other services there “is not pot of gold under the Brexit rainbow”, Morgan warned.
The Treasury committee would look in the coming weeks into the budgetary consequences of failing to reach a Brexit deal on transition, Morgan said, and would also examine the likely impact of Hammond’s raising of the stamp duty threshold for first-time homebuyers.
John Redwood, the veteran Eurosceptic Tory MP, in contrast hailed the economic forecasts in the budget as more “realistically optimistic” about the benefits of Brexit, even though he argued they could have been more bullish still.
But Jo Swinson, the Liberal Democrats’ deputy leader, said Hammond’s budget had to be seen amid reduced growth forecasts which predict the economy in 2021 as being £45bn smaller than had been projected in March.
“And so I’m afraid his attempt to paint a cheerful vision of the future were rather less successful than his jokes,” Swinson said.
“The truth is, as the chancellor knows, this budget and the next budget and the budget after that, and all the future budgets are made all the more difficult because of Brexit, and because of the extreme approach to Brexit this government is taking.”
Labour’s Angela Eagle, formerly the shadow business secretary, noted that the £3bn extra set aside for Brexit was greater than the near-£2bn more promised for the NHS.
Hammond had made no mention of financing for social care, or about the cost pressures on councils, Eagle said: “It’s 15 years of austerity – cut after cut, pressure on public services, year in, year out, with no end in sight.”