AS the country awaits the first Budget of the new Labour government, can we take some hope from the Labour leader in Scotland, Anas Sarwar MSP, who during the election campaign uttered the words “there will be no austerity under a Labour Government”!

READ MORE: BBC Scotland rapped by executive over false Anas Sarwar report

But wait a moment, have we not witnessed austerity from the new Labour government already with the abolition of the winter fuel payment for millions of pensioners? Who will be Labour’s next victims – will it be benefit claimants and those unable to work for health reasons, or will they just go after lower earners with an increase to National Insurance as predicted?

Wouldn’t it be so different if we heard the Chancellor announce a clampdown on those avoiding paying tax, which I am sure amounts to much more than benefit fraud. The country awaits the much-anticipated first Budget of the new Labour government; let’s hope we get what Labour promised: “change”.

Catriona C Clark
Falkirk