FOLLOWING the failure of Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ panic visit to beg, or borrow, £600 million from China, the Labour government of Keir Starmer is heading for a political and economic disaster on all fronts!
The economic aid from the Stalinist bureaucracy was desperately sought to try to save the bankrupt British economy from a complete collapse.
The Labour government has meanwhile refocused its attacks on cutting billions of pounds from welfare, the disabled and the NHS instead.
Reeves is said to have made it clear to the Treasury that she wants to get ‘tough’ on spending – meaning cuts in unprotected departments – and massive attacks on the poorest people, rather than considering new tax rises aimed at the rich.
In fact the Treasury is now preparing billions of pounds worth of cuts to disability benefits in an attempt to calm the bond markets over its debt-based economic plans, according to the Telegraph newspaper yesterday.
Downing Street and Treasury officials indicated that significant reductions are needed in the welfare budget, including to personal independence payments (PIP), which are being described as a ‘slash, slash, slash’ policy in Whitehall.
The annual cost of support payments for people with disabilities and health conditions is forecast to soar from £22 billion to £35 billion by 2029 – a 60 per cent increase.
It comes as the Chancellor is under mounting pressure to prove to the markets that she can hit her borrowing rules as the cost of government debt rises, by mounting a massive attack on the poorest people.
In fact, Reeves is pushing for ‘ruthless’ cuts to public spending, and a number of new taxes.
Labour’s relentless war on the working class to pay for its debt crisis has opened another front, an assault on bankrupt or nearly bankrupt local councils.
Under-funded for decades by Tory governments and crippled with billions of pounds of debt, many councils are queuing up to declare bankruptcy for the purpose of sacking thousands of workers and winding down the remaining council social services.
This week, Bradford council applied to increase council tax by 15 per cent, following the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead proposing a massive rise of 25 per cent.
Councils up and down the country have been prosecuting and evicting tenants for non-payment of surging council taxes. This comes on top of other urgent financial bills, such as the much heavier income tax burdens, the soaring energy bills and the more expensive mortgages.
Council Tax is now being wielded as a weapon of mass destruction against second home owners who are being told to pay as much as 100 per cent more, despite not using council services.
Just this week, the Labour-run Medway council was hitting empty home buyers with double council tax bills that had been unpaid by the previous owner. They have inherited the debt!
Deputy prime minister, Angela Rayner, is a leader of the slash-and-burn mob, planning to bring in more mayors who will drive up council tax by a further £56 a year in a number of areas.
She has also refused to rule out scrapping the single person discount – a vital 25 per cent reduction for widows and widowers.
However, it has emerged that rather than increase central government funding to insolvent municipal councils to resolve the crisis, Rayner has introduced laws that mean councils that set lower bills will receive less government grant money, effectively escalating the crisis and plunging the working class into destitution – conditions like the 1930s.
Workers will not accept these vicious attacks and are rising up against PM Starmer’s ‘anything for business’ government.
There is only one way out of this crisis for the working class. This is for the masses of workers to tell their trade union leaders to start fighting against the impact of the crisis of capitalism or quit their well paid posts.
The TUC must be made to call a general strike to bring down the Starmer government and bring in a Workers government and socialism. This is the only way forward!
