TORY Chancellor Rishi Sunak has said that everyone should be “grateful” to his party for having inflicted a decade of austerity on the UK.
Speaking at the Conservative conference, the top Tory also seemed to hit out at calls to reverse the imminent cuts to Universal Credit (UC).
In July 2021, around 40% of all UC claimants in England were in work, but Sunak claimed that such people should get a “good job” rather than relying on the state.
He said: "Is the answer to their hopes and dreams just to increase their benefits?
"Is the answer to tell that young family the economic system is rigged against you and the only way you stand a chance is to lean ever more on the state?
"I believe that the only sustainable route out of poverty comes from having a good job."
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The Conservative Chancellor further claimed that the worst in politics is driven by a “fear of change” and that excessive borrowing is “immoral”.
Saying that he would like to reduce taxes but that the books must be balanced first, Sunak went on: "Whilst I know tax rises are unpopular, some will even say un-Conservative, I’ll tell you what is un-Conservative - unfunded promises, reckless borrowing and soaring debt.
"Strong public finances don’t happen by accident, they are a deliberate choice.
"They are a legacy for future generations and a safeguard against future threats.
"I’m grateful and we should all be grateful to my predecessors and their 10 years of sound Conservative management of our economy."
The austerity imposed on the UK by David Cameron’s government stopped life expectancy improving for the first time in a century, and actually saw it go backwards for women in deprived areas.
Furthermore, according to economists writing on the LSE blog before the pandemic hit, in the years since the Brexit vote “GDP growth has slowed down, productivity has suffered, the pound has depreciated and purchasing power has gone down, and investments have declined”.
Sunak also claimed that although it may not yet be showing any benefits, Brexit will be worth it "in the long term".
Responding to the Chancellor's speech, the SNP's Alison Thewliss MP said it had "failed on every level" and was "empty" of any substance.
Thewliss, her party's shadow chancellor, went on: "There was nothing to address the significant number of households being plunged into poverty due to the impending cut to Universal Credit, nothing on the impact of the premature move to scrap the furlough scheme, nothing on the impact of regressive Tory tax hikes, nothing to rule out another decade of Tory austerity, and nothing on the meaningful investment needed to secure a strong and fair recovery from the pandemic.
“The UK already has the worst levels of poverty and inequality in north west Europe – and under Boris Johnson in-work poverty has risen to record levels this century. And with Brexit playing a major role in the staff shortages, empty supermarket shelves, soaring costs, and the ongoing fuel crisis, things are set to get worse."
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