{"id":16580,"date":"2018-10-26T10:08:34","date_gmt":"2018-10-26T09:08:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=16580"},"modified":"2020-11-12T12:58:08","modified_gmt":"2020-11-12T12:58:08","slug":"end-austerity-call-budget","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=16580","title":{"rendered":"End austerity now call"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Labour has called on the chancellor Philip Hammond to use next week\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s budget to make good on the prime minister\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s pledge to end austerity.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In a speech to trade union and business representatives, Labour\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s shadow chancellor John McDonnell said on Thursday (October 25) that the government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Autumn Budget on Monday (October 29) would prove whether Theresa May was being true to her word when she said\u00c2\u00a0earlier this month \u00e2\u20ac\u0098austerity is over\u00e2\u20ac\u2122.<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

He pointed to research showing the scale of the task ahead of the government if it really is to end austerity \u00e2\u20ac\u201c at least \u00c2\u01417bn will be needed to halt planned cuts and \u00c2\u014117bn will be required to undo the damage of the last decade.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Acknowledge the damage<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

But McDonnell said that the \u00e2\u20ac\u0098first step\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 the government must take in honouring its commitments is to \u00e2\u20ac\u015backnowledge the scale of the hardship eight years of Tory austerity has inflicted on our people and our communities.”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

He highlighted how different groups of people \u00e2\u20ac\u201c from children, four million of whom are now living in poverty, to elderly people who cannot access social care, to university debt-laden students, to low-income working families crushed by the introduction of Universal credit and more \u00e2\u20ac\u201c who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve borne the brunt of austerity.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bEight years of Tory austerity have undermined much of the social fabric of our society and is putting our future at risk,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bFaced with this scale of damage inflicted on our community we need decisive action to end and reverse austerity not some vague promises for the future and a few financial conjuring tricks.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The shadow chancellor slammed the government for its botched handling of Brexit, which will only worsen prospects for ordinary people hit by nearly a decade of austerity.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

‘Trick or treat’ budget<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

McDonnell accused May of throwing Hammond \u00e2\u20ac\u015bunder the proverbial bus with her unilateral announcement of the end of austerity.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe result has been that in the weeks since Tory party conference the lights have been burning very late into the night in the Treasury as the quiet Budget gets dumped and the officials have to dress up existing announcements and a few off the shelf stunts into something much more grandiose.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

He predicted that under \u00e2\u20ac\u015bthe pretence of a big Budget\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 on Monday, people instead will be handed down \u00e2\u20ac\u015ba trick or treat Budget\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 two days before Halloween.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Labour frontbencher set out his party\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s own approach to undoing the damage wrought by Tory austerity and to growing the economy under a future Labour government.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This will include an investment programme and \u00e2\u20ac\u015ban industrial strategy with a mission-based approach prioritising innovation, tackling climate change and regional growth\u00e2\u20ac\u0165.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

He pledged \u00e2\u20ac\u015bto share the prosperity we create by ensuring decent wages, trade union rights, representation of workers on boards and spreading ownership within our economy.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Commenting on McDonnell\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s speech, Unite assistant general secretary Steve Turner said the pressure was on for the government to end austerity once and for all.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe will hold this government to account for the explicit pledge May made at the Tory Party conference this year that austerity was supposedly over,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe untold damage this government has done to ordinary people must end.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bMcDonnell\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s speech today has again shown that only Labour has a plan to not only undo a decade of austerity but it has a bold vision for a future Britain whose public services are well-funded; whose infrastructure is properly invested in and whose wealth is shared fairly. \u00c2\u00a0If this government can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t make good on its promises over austerity then it must make way for a Labour government that can.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

PFI U-turn?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Unite has welcomed reports that the government may be considering a U-turn on Public Finance Initiatives (PFIs) in the wake of Carillion\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s collapse earlier this year.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The construction giant held a network of PFI contracts \u00e2\u20ac\u201c after its demise the failure of PFIs came to the fore as vital public projects such as Royal Liverpool Hospital were thrown into limbo. Research has also shown that PFI projects, far from providing value for money, end up costing 40 per cent more than publicly financed initiatives.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIndustry insiders\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 have reportedly said<\/a> that while the government won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t undo already existing PFIs, Hammond may \u00e2\u20ac\u015bkill off PFI for good\u00e2\u20ac\u0165.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite assistant general secretary Gail Cartmail said that \u00e2\u20ac\u015bif these reports are correct this is a step forward as PFI schemes cost taxpayers billions of pounds, with the spivs in the city coining it\u00e2\u20ac\u0165.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bHowever if the government is serious about using the budget to tackle bandit capitalism then it needs to go much further,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt must not only end the PFI scam but adopt Labour\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s policy of reviewing all PFI contracts and bringing the worst offenders back in house.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bCarillion\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s collapse was not just a result of problems on major construction projects but was equally about its addiction to outsourced contracts, many of which were linked to PFI contracts. This type of facility management, maintenance and cleaning contracts should be the first to be brought back in house.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWhile the demise of PFI is long overdue, the government needs to be entirely clear about how it will be replaced,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Cartmail went on to say. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe UK is crying out for infrastructure investment, including hospitals, schools and roads, and these schemes must not be delayed or mothballed.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIf the government has learned the lessons of PFI, then future infrastructure projects should be directly funded by the taxpayer, entirely removing financial speculators from the equation.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Labour has called on the chancellor Philip Hammond to use next week\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s budget to make good on the prime minister\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s pledge to end austerity.   In a speech to trade union and business representatives, Labour\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s shadow chancellor John McDonnell said on Thursday (October 25) that the government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Autumn Budget on Monday (October 29) would prove […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10007,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[76,1046],"wps_subtitle":"Unite and Labour pile on the pressure to end austerity ahead of Budget","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16580"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16580"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16580\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25761,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16580\/revisions\/25761"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10007"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16580"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16580"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16580"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}