ROBUST parliamentary exchanges are a common form of torture for any chancellor and yesterday’s were no different for Rishi Sunak.
SNP Westminster Leader Ian Blackford was straight to the point, saying the Budget did not account for “the bollocks that they have made of Brexit”.
In more temperate language, he added: “This Budget is carefully laying the ground for more Tory austerity, a decade more of Conservative cuts. The Chancellor doesn’t understand what it’s like to be poor in Boris Johnson’s Brexit Britain. Chancellor, do the right thing, this should never be temporary, it should be permanent ... making the £20 Universal Credit uplift permanent has also got to extend to legacy benefits.”
He was heckled by Boris Johnson for talking “rubbish”, but then retorted: “Try telling that to the three million people that have no financial support – no financial support, Prime Minister – from your Government over the course of the last year. You should be utterly, utterly ashamed at the derogation of responsibility.”
Poverty campaigners also warned of the consequences of removing the Universal Credit rise in six months. John Dickie, director of the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) in Scotland, said: “Removing it will push more than 20,000 more children into poverty in Scotland alone. Today’s decision only postpones the pain, for children and for our economy.”
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Away from those corridors of power, doctor Liz Cameron, director and chief executive of the Scottish Chambers of Commerce, said this was always going to be a difficult balance for Sunak, given that we are still in the midst of an economic and health crisis.
She too welcomed the furlough and VAT measures, and added: “Reassurance has been provided today. But the Chancellor must keep the door open to providing more support if the pandemic hits our economic reopening plans again.”
The mood of the drinks sector lifted slightly over furlough and VAT , but it warned that increased contributions required from employers from July “will cause severe difficulties for many businesses”.
Paul Waterson from the Scottish Licensed Trade Association (SLTA) said: “It’s a game of two halves for the licensed trade and hospitality industry – good news in the short term but not such a sunny longer-term outlook although it does buy us a bit of time.
“The fortunes of our sector in Scotland will also depend on how our road map out of lockdown looks.”
Retailers also liked the “sensible and necessary” extensions, although director of the Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC), David Lonsdale, questioned what would happen if there were further lockdown restrictions later in the year. He added: “Both the UK and Scottish governments need to keep in mind the fragile condition of all businesses right now, and reflect on whether further policy measures, fiscal or otherwise, are sensible whilst businesses recover.”
READ MORE: Kate Forbes welcomes Covid support but 'clouds of austerity are on the horizon'
Sunak’s measures would give smaller firms more fuel to get through the “last lap” of the health crisis, but Andrew McRae, policy chair of the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) in Scotland, urged policymakers to look to the longer term: “We’d urge ministers in Edinburgh to optimise their package of measures on this front to ensure the bulk of help goes to smaller firms hit hardest, and not the biggest businesses who’ve avoided the hardest restrictions.”
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