THE TWO THURROCK Labour candidates for the General Election of 2015 have poured scorn on the chancellor of the exchequer, George Osborne’s Autumn Statement.
South Basildon and East Thurrock candidate, Mike Le Surf said:
"Usually the closest you get to seeing the Autumn Statement presented is via your television set but today I has the pleasure of witnessing it live in the public gallery of the House of Commons.
The fifth and final year of this disgraced government is showing no sign of letting up on the austerity measures that have hit the least well off the hardest.
The spin given to Osborne’s announcement that there is an extra £2billion coming to the NHS (when a third of it is already in the NHS budget and the remainder is coming from within current under-spends from other departments) is enough to send most people into a justifiable rage.
And to hear the chancellor have the audacity to trot out once again the "we’re all in this together" mantra was rightly received with derision from most of the house.
Under the next Labour government there will be real investment in the NHS via a tax on homes worth over £2million creating billions in funding for more doctors and nurses.
Costed and accounted for. Unlike the coalition’s implausible giveaways. May 7th can’t come round fast enough for most of us."
Thurrock candidate, Polly Billington said:
George Osborne has failed his own test – to clear the deficit – and ordinary people are paying the price. You talk to most people in Thurrock and they will tell you they haven’t seen the benefits of any recovery, and now we can see why.
The reality is the economy is struggling because ordinary people are struggling. The Chancellor and David Cameron have refused to tackle the cost of living crisis. So many people on low pay means there hasn’t been enough tax raised to reduce the deficit: in fact George Osborne has borrowed £219bn MORE than he planned four years ago.
Remember that’s partly because he gave tax cuts to millionaires. We are now facing low growth and more spending cuts with little prospect of things getting better for ordinary people under the Tories. In fact the experts say wages are likely to go down this year and next. From parents to pensioners, business people to shop workers, nurses to tax drivers, we are all losing out.
As for the much announced improvements to Junction 30, I will welcome them when they actually happen, not when George Osborne chooses to reissue a press release. So little joy from the Tories for the people of Thurrock I am afraid, when they need real help making ends meet.
But it doesn’t have to be this way. We need an economy which supports working people: and Labour’s policies of an energy bill freeze, a train fare cap, more free childcare for working parents, a higher minimum wage and an end to the abuse of zero hours contract would all really help people round here.
A Labour government will also cut business rates for small firms. It’s really shocking that there is only a "review" of business rates in this Autumn statement, when entrepreneurs really need a break. They will get one with Labour.
