Labour echo Tories in attempt to slash public spending
At his Labour conference speech, Chancellor of the Exchequer John Healey MP said the Labour Westminster government did not have the “money New Labour had in the 90s” to tackle the cost-of-living crisis, echoing previous Tory Chancellors who went on to slash public spending.
Despite warning of the Tories' disastrous economic mismanagement, which led to the current cost-of-living crisis, the Labour Chancellor reused messages from the Tory playbook to tell working-class communities they will have to pay for the government's failure, instead of ensuring the richest in society pay their fair share.
Not once in his 40-minute speech did the Chancellor hint at taxing the super-rich profiteers who continue to hoard most of the UK's wealth; instead, he took aim at vulnerable and low-income workers, saying he does not support a “bigger and bigger benefits bill”.
Reacting to the Chancellor’s speech, Scottish Greens co-leader Ross Greer MSP said:
"Labour are trying to trick the public into accepting more cuts to the crucial public services we all rely on. Andy Burnham and John Healey are reusing the same old Tory playbook to stealthily push further cuts onto already struggling services, rather than properly taxing the super-rich and big corporations.
"The UK is one of the richest countries in the history of the world. It's just not true to claim that this government doesn't have the money the last Labour government had three decades ago. That money is here. It's in the bank accounts of rich and powerful people, who have profiteered from exploitation of people and planet.
“The UK Government has the powers to properly tax wealth and crack down on corporate tax avoidance. Doing that would raise tens of billions of pounds for our public services. Instead, Labour are heavily hinting that they will make more cuts to the social security payments which vulnerable people rely on to survive."
"The Scottish Greens have raised taxes on wealthy holiday home owners and landlords, and we invested that money in measures like free bus travel for young people and scrapping peak rail fares. That's what socialism looks like, helping ordinary people to save money and expecting the richest to contribute a bit more.
"This conference was an opportunity for Labour to show they've learned their lessons from the Starmer years, but instead we're getting more of the same. That's the last thing Scotland and the UK need during this cost-of-living crisis.”