Midlands TUC Budget Response

‘Budget for the rich by the rich', says TUC Responding to the Budget today (Wednesday), TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said:

“We needed a Budget that looked to the future and made jobs – particularly for young people – the national priority. Instead we have got a Budget for the rich by the rich.

‘One Minute the Chancellor said he found tax avoidance morally repugnant, the next he rewarded it by cutting income tax for the richest onw per cent – with precious little relief for hard-pressed families on ordinary incomes. Treasury figures show that those on low and middle incomes will do worse than those higher up the income scale

This looks like a Budget made to keep the coalition together rather than one made for the good of the country”

Said Rob Johnston, Midlands TUC Regional Secretary

This budget has not delivered for working people in the Midlands. Electrification of the Midlands Mainline is much needed and the Chancellor failed to act and missed a real opportunity to deliver a boost to Midlands infrastructure.

What’s more, the proposals on regionalised pay will hit our region hard.

The cost of reducing public sector pay in the Midlands by just 1% will mean £250million in lost income for over a million workers in the Midlands. This will simply entrench the divide between our region and London and the South east.

Doctors’, nurses’ and teachers’ pay should be set by the job they are doing rather than how wealthy their local area is. Paying someone more to save lives or teach a child in a rich area than a poor one is deeply unfair and makes no sense.

The Chancellor’s rush towards regional pay suggests the government is more interested in picking a fight with public sector workers than boosting regional economies