20/04/2009 – A budget for the poor
With the budget this week there are many of us in the advice sector who are hoping that the Government will act boldly to do two things. Firstly reverse the dreadful tide of growing inequality by taking concrete steps to help the poorest in our society by putting more money in the pockets of the poorest families. As the Child Poverty Action Group points out this can be done best and quickest through the benefit and tax credit systems, and this is the fastest way to pump cash into the local economy to help business and protect jobs.
Many of us believe that it is the growing chasm between the richest and the poorest that cause so many of the growing social ills we see around us. Under New Labour there continues to be a yawning gap between those who are socially and financially excluded on the one hand and the obscenely rewarded risk takers who got us into this mess on the other. Lasa believes that concrete help in the budget for the poorest through a one off upgrade to benefit levels and a real effort to increase take up of benefits and tax credits would be a highly effective form of fiscal stimulus
Secondly the Government must reconsider its punitive and unworkable welfare reform bill. At a time of recession and rising unemployment, trying to bully people back into work when there are fewer jobs just doesn't make sense.
Posted by Andy Gregg