Jeremy Corbyn slams 'broken promise Budget' over Tory austerity claims
2 min read
Jeremy Corbyn accused Philip Hammond of delivering a "broken promise Budget" as he rejected the Government's claim that the end of austerity is in sight.
The Labour leader said the Chancellor had only offered "half measures and quick fixes" in his update on the state of the nation's finances.
Mr Hammond told MPs "the era of austerity finally coming to an end" as he unveiled a multi-billion pound public spending boost for the next five years.
That echoed Theresa May's vow at the Conservative conference earlier this month that eight years of cuts were finally over.
But in his response, Mr Corbyn said: "This is a broken promise Budget. What we heard today are half measures and quick fixes while austerity grinds on.
"Far from people’s hard work and sacrifices having paid off as the Prime Minister claims, this Government has frittered it away in ideological tax cuts to the richest in our society.
"This Budget won’t undo the damage done by eight years of austerity, it doesn’t begin to measure up to the scale of the job that needs to be done to rebuild Britain. The Government claims austerity has worked so now they can end it but that is absolutely the opposite of the truth. Austerity needs to end because it has failed."
Labour highlighted Treasury plans to cut capital spending from 2019/20 in order to boost bay-to-day budgets, and said additional money for Universal Credit were not enough to compensate for previous cuts to the controversial benefit.
Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell, who said: "It is now clear austerity is not over, the cuts to social security will continue and Philip Hammond gave no assurances that departments won’t face further cuts.
"Eight years of destructive austerity has damaged our economy, damaged people’s incomes and damaged our essential services."
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