Labour urged to reverse cruel social security cuts after election disaster
If the Labour Party is to truly learn from last week’s disastrous election results, then Keir Starmer needs to reverse the cruel cuts that he has made to Winter Fuel Payments and social security for disabled people, say the Scottish Greens.
The Party has called for Labour to implement a wealth tax, which research from the University of Greenwich says could raise tens of billions of pounds a year for public services.
The party’s Co-leader, Lorna Slater, said:
“Labour was elected with a big enough majority to do anything they wanted, but they have thrown it away to implement cruel cuts that go further than the Tories. No wonder so many voters abandoned them last week.
“Labour’s decisions meant that a lot of older people had a far colder winter than they needed to, and that many will have gone hungry to heat their homes.
"A lot of disabled people are worried about what the future holds, with billions of pounds worth of cuts falling on their shoulders in the middle of a cost of living crisis.
“That’s not the change that people thought they were voting for. It’s not only deeply harmful, it is completely needless.
“There is more than enough money in the UK to properly fund services and ensure that everyone can grow up with warmth and security. The problem is that so much of that money is being hoarded by a tiny number of extremely wealthy people who don’t need it. It is time that those people were taxed properly.
“There should be a national mission to end poverty for good, but that won’t come from business as usual. It will only come from bold action to invest in services, create green jobs and tackle the vast inequality that has seen the rich getting richer while others pay the price.”
The Scottish Greens proposed wealth tax would start at a marginal rate of 1%, rising to 5% for those with £5.7 million and above (the richest 0.5%), and 10% for those with £18.2 million (the richest 0.15%).
Analysis from the University of Greenwich shows that this tax would raise over £70 billion a year and potentially up to £130 billion.