Chancellor in denial about the cost of living
The Chancellor has ignored the rising costs for households in his Spring Statement, the Scottish Greens have said.
In his speech in the Commons, Rishi Sunak announced a cut in fuel duty and a lift in the threshold for National Insurance but failed to address skyrocketing energy bills and food prices.
Commenting, Scottish Green finance spokesperson Ross Greer said: “The OBR is warning about the biggest annual fall in living standards since their records began, and yet the UK’s multi-millionaire Chancellor has just demonstrated that he has no idea of the pressures ordinary families are now under.
“There was nothing in Rishi Sunak’s statement to address energy bills, which are rising because of the Tories’ failure to implement price controls or to transition away from unstable fossil fuels such as gas. There was nothing to tackle rising food prices stemming from their disastrous Brexit process. And there was nothing to support those already plunged into poverty by the cuts to Universal Credit and the benefit cap.
“A costly cut in fuel duty will inflate the profit margins of fossil fuel corporations whilst having no effect on the millions of predominantly low-income families with no access to a car and who rely on public transport. In Glasgow alone that is fully half of all households.
“It is disappointing that the Chancellor cannot take responsibility for the Tories’ role in creating this cost of living crisis. The idea of promising tax cuts in two years is a distraction, one which has no bearing on what people are facing right now. It is typical though of Mr Sunak, by far the UK’s richest politician.”
