'Everyone will be financially worse off after October'
Not so much a U-turn, more of a double somersault.
Sir Keir Starmer's reversal of Labour's much-maligned welfare policy, particularly P.I.P., was an accident waiting to happen. Restoring the winter fuel allowance and excluding current claimants from the ravages of bureaucratic changes to the personal independence payment system was the right decision. I applaud the dissenting MPs for forcing the administration to change course. It is hard to believe that a Labour government would attempt to balance the books on the backs of the most vulnerable sections of society, rather than from those who can best afford to contribute. It would be comforting to believe that these decisions were made in the light of a sudden surge of altruism, but the reality is that Starmers' leadership and that of his heartless chancellor, Rachel Reeves, were under threat. The bad news is that everyone will be financially worse off after October, when the government seeks to recover the lost revenue from the population by raising taxes.
Austerity is back on the menu. Malcolm Richards,
Newport
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