Sunak`s summer statement was the creation of a chancellor determined, as your editorial stated, not "to scare Conservative backbenchers" (Britain is heading into an almighty hurricane without even an umbrella, 09/07/20). The trouble is that, unless he enlightens the likes of Baker and Redwood with economic facts, like the £300bn deficit being covered by the Bank of England`s recent increase in quantitative easing, how other countries manage very well with large debt, like Japan with its 250% debt-to-GDP ratio, and how government investment in people`s pay triggers economic multipliers so that a large percentage is soon recovered in tax, the chancellor is unlikely ever to offer anything other than "cocktail umbrellas" in the face of economic "hurricanes".
As well as all the statement`s "notable absences" duly noted in your paper, it also lacked mention of much-needed extra investment across all public services, perhaps too bitter a pill for Tory backbenchers to swallow. The 200,000 vacancies in the NHS and social care need to be filled, as do the ones in teaching, police and prison service.Thousands more inspectors are required at HMRC, not only to fill gaps caused by austerity cuts, but also to tackle the tax avoidance and evasion problems. In addition, as conditions in Leicester have clearly shown, inspectors are urgently needed to work both on the government`s National Minimum Wage team, and for the Health and Safety Executive.
A "bust economic model and a broken social contract" will never be replaced when their existence is denied by the government. Can we really expect more from Sunak, when it`s Johnson and Cummings he`s working for, not FDR!
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