Labour's October Budget Risks Return to Austerity, Campaigners Warn - Amid Reports of Major Spending Cuts
There are renewed concerns that Labour's first Budget this month could trigger a fresh round of austerity cuts, as campaigners urge the Chancellor to borrow to invest in rebuilding Britain's public services.
It comes as the Guardian reports that despite Rachel Reeves' conference speech promise to boost investment to stimulate growth, cabinet members are being told to find potential cuts amounting to billions of pounds from infrastructure projects over the next 18 months.
According to Government sources cited by the paper, as part of the October 30 spending review, ministers have been tasked with showing how they could reduce their annual capital spending - i.e. infrastructure and investment plans - by up to 10%.
It is a stark contrast to suggestions last week that the Treasury is set to change its fiscal rules, to allow the Government to borrow to invest in job-creating industries and infrastructure. Unions such as Unite welcomed the reports.
Both Reeves and Prime Minister Keir Starmer in their Labour conference speeches last week ruled out a "return to austerity". But that narrative conflicts with some reports since - plus the billions of pounds of cuts already planned.
The Equality Trust has launched a petition calling on the Government to reject austerity measures in the October budget.
Addressed to Starmer and Reeves, it argues that over a decade of austerity under the Conservatives pushed public services to their limits and left communities at a breaking point.
It points to recent Government decisions, such as cuts to winter fuel payments and £5.5 billion in other spending cuts this financial year, as indications that the pattern of austerity may continue.
Many of the initial savings this year come through cancelling long-delayed Conservative transport and hospital projects from the last Government. However, the Chancellor has already pencilled in £8.1 billion in "savings" next year too.
Related reading: Local Government is on a 'Precipice' With Billions in Cuts Coming Soon to These Councils
Challenging the fiscal rules Labour has signed up to which they claim prevent public investment, the petition argues that these constraints were "made up by politicians and badly designed".
Those rules dictate that Government debt "must be falling as a share of the economy by the fifth year of the [budget] forecast".
During the General Election, the Scottish National Party and others warned that Labour sticking to its fiscal rules would lead to more austerity, with the independent Institute for Fiscal Studies forecasting £18 billion worth of public sector cuts by 2030, or real-terms cuts to public investment of 2.6% per year over this parliament.
The Equality Trust has joined unions and progressive think tanks in urging the Government to rule out more austerity, and tax the rich to boost spending.
Priya Sahni-Nicholas, Co-Executive Director of the Equality Trust told Byline Times: "Here are three things that are breaking records right now: monthly temperatures; foodbank use; and shareholder payouts. We all understand that our system is broken. It's also very clear that you cannot solve the crises the UK is trapped in without investing in people.
"We've been here before - declaring that austerity is over will not somehow exempt you from the effects of cutting investment. It would be a disaster to continue the policy that has encouraged massive inequality…
"People need warm, safe homes; to be able to access healthcare, education, and opportunities; and to live in communities that can thrive in a sustainable, equal society."
SNP Westminster Deputy Leader Pete Wishart MP said people in Scotland would be "appalled at the miserable choice on offer at Westminster," claiming the two biggest UK parties were "wedded to austerity cuts, Brexit and long-term decline".
"On the one hand, we've got free gear Keir and his Labour ministers lining their pockets with more than £800,0
It comes as the Guardian reports that despite Rachel Reeves' conference speech promise to boost investment to stimulate growth, cabinet members are being told to find potential cuts amounting to billions of pounds from infrastructure projects over the next 18 months.
According to Government sources cited by the paper, as part of the October 30 spending review, ministers have been tasked with showing how they could reduce their annual capital spending - i.e. infrastructure and investment plans - by up to 10%.
It is a stark contrast to suggestions last week that the Treasury is set to change its fiscal rules, to allow the Government to borrow to invest in job-creating industries and infrastructure. Unions such as Unite welcomed the reports.
Both Reeves and Prime Minister Keir Starmer in their Labour conference speeches last week ruled out a "return to austerity". But that narrative conflicts with some reports since - plus the billions of pounds of cuts already planned.
The Equality Trust has launched a petition calling on the Government to reject austerity measures in the October budget.
Addressed to Starmer and Reeves, it argues that over a decade of austerity under the Conservatives pushed public services to their limits and left communities at a breaking point.
It points to recent Government decisions, such as cuts to winter fuel payments and £5.5 billion in other spending cuts this financial year, as indications that the pattern of austerity may continue.
Many of the initial savings this year come through cancelling long-delayed Conservative transport and hospital projects from the last Government. However, the Chancellor has already pencilled in £8.1 billion in "savings" next year too.
Related reading: Local Government is on a 'Precipice' With Billions in Cuts Coming Soon to These Councils
Challenging the fiscal rules Labour has signed up to which they claim prevent public investment, the petition argues that these constraints were "made up by politicians and badly designed".
Those rules dictate that Government debt "must be falling as a share of the economy by the fifth year of the [budget] forecast".
During the General Election, the Scottish National Party and others warned that Labour sticking to its fiscal rules would lead to more austerity, with the independent Institute for Fiscal Studies forecasting £18 billion worth of public sector cuts by 2030, or real-terms cuts to public investment of 2.6% per year over this parliament.
The Equality Trust has joined unions and progressive think tanks in urging the Government to rule out more austerity, and tax the rich to boost spending.
Priya Sahni-Nicholas, Co-Executive Director of the Equality Trust told Byline Times: "Here are three things that are breaking records right now: monthly temperatures; foodbank use; and shareholder payouts. We all understand that our system is broken. It's also very clear that you cannot solve the crises the UK is trapped in without investing in people.
"We've been here before - declaring that austerity is over will not somehow exempt you from the effects of cutting investment. It would be a disaster to continue the policy that has encouraged massive inequality…
"People need warm, safe homes; to be able to access healthcare, education, and opportunities; and to live in communities that can thrive in a sustainable, equal society."
SNP Westminster Deputy Leader Pete Wishart MP said people in Scotland would be "appalled at the miserable choice on offer at Westminster," claiming the two biggest UK parties were "wedded to austerity cuts, Brexit and long-term decline".
"On the one hand, we've got free gear Keir and his Labour ministers lining their pockets with more than £800,0
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