SURVATION – who accurately predicted the hung parliament – also now shows Labour storming to a 7 per cent lead over the Conservatives. Its a shame that Labour are not calling for an election. Its a shame that Labour are not calling for an election.
Brand new research commissioned by GMB, Britain’s general union, ahead of the Chancellor’s Spring Budget Statement shows public support for an end to austerity, an increase in spending and for public services to be brought back in house. The results from pollsters Survation also show Labour storming to a 7 per cent lead over the Conservatives. Half of those polled expect the UK to slide into recession in the next couple of years.
The figures show that of those polled
• 62% said they want the Spring Budget Statement from the government to announce real terms increase in spending on public services. • Almost half (48%) who voted Conservative at the last general election think that the cuts have gone too far. • 60% said the cuts to public spending have gone too far with only 8% saying they’ve not gone not far enough. • 50% want all outsourced public services brought in house, with only 12% wanting more outsourcing or privatisation. • Almost half (47%) expect the UK economy to enter recession in the next 2 years.
Tim Roache, GMB General Secretary, said: ‘People have had nearly eight years of austerity and they’ve had enough. We’ve all seen that it’s not working – public services are at breaking point, our infrastructure is creaking and there is no government plan to create jobs. ‘This poll shows that voters of all stripes think the government’s cuts have gone too far. No matter party allegiance, people can see what cut after cut means for them, their families, their friends and their communities, and they don’t like it.
‘Austerity has failed. In his Spring Budget Statement, the Chancellor has a choice. ‘The choice is to stop the cuts and properly invest in our economy and public services, or continue with a failed policy that the electorate don’t like, don’t want and will roundly reject at the next election – because as these figures show, the policies Labour will deliver are giving people across the country hope, and a belief, that things can be different.’
• Chancellor Hammond said yesterday ‘there is light at the end of the tunnel… But we are still in the tunnel at the moment. We have to get debt down.’ Interviewed by Andrew Marr, he was asked: ‘Well, for the 11 million people about to be hit by the next round of welfare cuts is there any light at the end of the tunnel? ‘Are you going to be able to help them in any way at all?’
Hammond said of his Spring Budget: ‘I won’t be making tax or spending announcements on Tuesday. What I will be doing is signalling some areas where we want to consult ahead of the budget in the autumn.’ Pressed about whether he will be giving some relief to local authorities pushed to the limit, Hammond said: ‘Well, just to be clear, this is not a fiscal event on Tuesday. So I won’t be making fiscal announcements.
