Michael Meacher MP

If Osborne wanted to be as provocative as possible (which he probably does want, to appease the Tory right, his future backers for the leadership), he could hardly put together a more incendiary mix than cutting tax rates for the ultra-rich in the 21 March budget and then 2 weeks later impose swingeing cuts on some of the poorest families in the country.   On 6 April working couples around the country on £18,000 a year (or £346 a week, just three-quarters of the average wage) will lose £77 a week.   These families contain nearly half a million children, and their income is being cut by more than a fifth.   Contrast that with Osborne’s plans for the super-rich: if he cuts the top rate of tax for this 1% richest clique in the country from 50% to 45% (as he has just leaked – so much for the days when Chancellors were sacked for revealing even the smallest details of their budgets before they were delivered to the House), that is worth nearly £100 a week extra to someone on £250,000. (more…)