New Labour’s Tory austerity measures show no sign of easing - Angus Robertson

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar

As the dust settles on the first Labour budget, the omissions and small print are emerging to give a fuller picture of the £40bn tax-raising budget.

Austerity is set to continue for millions of people with Labour’s cut to the winter fuel allowance and the two-child cap on benefits. Around 10 million pensioners will be impacted by continuing Labour austerity, which trades unions and campaigners believe will cause the deaths of elderly people.

Austerity is set to continue for hundreds of thousands of families who are prevented from claiming child tax credits or Universal Credit for more than two children.

The austerity policy was introduced in 2017 by the Conservative government and is supported by the current Labour government. The End Child Poverty Coalition estimates that removing the cap would lift a quarter of a million children out of poverty, with the two-child limit costing families up to £3235 per child each year.

Meanwhile, the UK budget, which raised a significant £40 billion in taxes, is expected to only “temporarily boost” the economy, according to official forecasts by the Office of Budget Responsibility which calls into question the UK government’s pledge to reboot growth.

According to the OBR the pace of growth will peak next year at 2 per cent before falling back to around 1.5 per cent later in the parliament. The independent watchdog said in the short term the Budget would push up inflation and interest rates, with a knock-on effect on growth.

Meanwhile, we face “weak growth in imports and exports” and as a result the OBR expects a reduction in “the overall trade intensity of the UK economy by 15 per cent”.

This is in large part down to the impacts of Brexit, the worst of which is still to come. Calculations commissioned by the London Labour mayor using Treasury figures already show that the UK is £140 billion worse off because of Brexit and will be £311 billion worse off over the next decade.

Seen together with the targeting of business and public services, a hike on employers’ NI contributions and the undermining of the Scotch Whisky industry, it is unsurprising that Labour has taken a big hit with public opinion. Just 17 per cent believe that the budget will leave them better off and 24 per cent thought that it was good for Scotland.

In the first major poll since the UK budget, Scottish Labour is down seven points, PM Keir Starmer’s approval ratings have collapsed from minus 9 to minus 38, the Scottish Labour leader is down 9 points on minus 11. Meanwhile, the Tories, with a new Scottish leader in Russell Findlay and new hardline UK leader Keri Badenoch are projected to lose almost half their seats.

In contrast, the SNP under first Minister John Swinney have stable polling numbers and a projected number of 51 MSPs, remaining by far and away the biggest party in the Scottish Parliament.

Hundreds of thousands of elderly people and families with more than two children will continue to face austerity policies by the UK Labour government. This is a political choice by Keir Starmer, Anas Sarwar and Scottish Labour. They will not be thanked for it.