Chancellor Rishi Sunak revealed his recovery Budget last week
COVID-19 has exposed huge inequalities in the UK which have been a main cause of the alarming death toll. Sunak’s Budget for business has done nothing to tackle any of these. He could have, for instance:
- Tackled the housing shortage and overcrowding in cities by giving a major stimulus to environmentally efficient homes with affordable rents (and thereby massively boosted employment in the construction industry)
- Increased the UK living wage to the level of the Real Living Wage (currently £9.50 per hour for all over 18) instead of the miserly £8.91(but only for the over-25s
READ MORE: Mhairi Black: Rishi Sunak’s cool lad act does not conceal truth about his Budget
- Made the £20 per week uplift of Universal Credit permanent lTackled the scandalous low wages paid to key workers in health and social care
- Outlawed exploitative zero-hours contracts that trap many in insecure employment.
But then what do you expect from the Chancellor of this extreme right-wing Tory government in Westminster? With fiscal powers, Scotland could do so much better!
Dumfries & District Trades Union Council
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