Budget backtrack highlights Chancellor’s incompetence - and deep divisions within the Tory Party
The Tories showed how deeply divided the party is becoming with their embarrassing U-turn on plans to slash Personal Independence Payments – a move that would have been devastating for the most vulnerable members of our society.
The £4.4 billion saving - announced as part of the Budget last week – was abandoned following the resignation of Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith on Friday.
Duncan Smith’s successor, Stephen Crabb, confirmed plans to cut PIPs had been scrapped on Monday but Chancellor George Osborne – who failed to show his face for the announcement in the House of Commons – has yet to apologise for the fear and heartache felt by millions of people with disabilities up and down the country.
In my constituency, 1419 people receive Personal Independence Payments. I therefore raised my concerns about this issue directly with the DWP Minister and I am pleased to note that the proposed cuts will not now go ahead.
But I am not taken in by Duncan Smith’s cynical U-turn as this is, after all, the man who brought in the Bedroom Tax and has had no qualms in the past about cutting benefits from the most vulnerable. I think this is more to do with Duncan Smith’s political ambitions than any concern for the disabled.
However, the Chancellor has clearly demonstrated his economical incompetence – he has missed his own politically motivated economic targets and has clearly come to the decision that the most vulnerable in our society must be punished for this.
His arrogance in unashamedly ensuring that the wealthiest in our society gain by cutting support for people with disabilities to allow him to cut taxes for the wealthiest is despicable.
With the Tories now tearing themselves apart, this unfair Budget is falling apart at the seams. George Osborne needs to urgently clarify how he will make up for the huge hole in his Budget following the PIP reversal.
He needs to provide reassurances that support for the most vulnerable in our society will be protected from the brutality of this self-serving Government.