THE government is on manoeuvre. It always is. Its long-term project is to wage a continual war against those in poverty, as well as working people in general, in favour of the wealthy.

Of course, they don’t say out loud that this is their purpose. Normally they come up with a thin excuse why it is necessary to take this course of action. But it’s always the same underlying story.

Take the Autumn Statement. There was jubilation on the Tory backbenches and in much of the media at the time, because it would put slightly more cash into the wage packets of some taxpayers because National Insurance contributions have been cut.

But in the small print of the Autumn Statement, we can see that it will be years before incomes rise back to even 2008 levels. A very large proportion of the population is now finding it increasingly difficult to manage their finances.

This weekend the giant accounting firm KPMG released the results of its consumer survey. They found that three out of five are having to cut back to pay for essentials such as food and energy. So much for the cuts to National Insurance! The Chancellor, in the calm period between Christmas and New Year, has let it be known that the budget will be unusually early. He has commissioned the Office for Budget Rresponsibility to prepare an economic and fiscal forecast to be presented to Parliament alongside his unusually early Spring Budget on March 6 2024.

It’s easy to see their election positioning. There is speculation in the right-wing papers that the Chancellor is considering further tax-cutting measures. Given that the rate of inflation fell substantially as shown in December’s announcements also, it is thought that a cut in the mortgage rate may not be far away.

It has been clear for some time that the Chancellor’s imposition of austerity in public services such as the NHS, as well as his refusal to pay a proper income to tens of thousands of workers, is a political choice.

His argument has been based on a false premise that the country is strapped for cash. But suddenly there apparently is money for tax cuts.
 
Media speculation is that the Chancellor will introduce a cut — or even abolition — of the inheritance tax. But why? Only one in every 25 people pay inheritance tax.

The vast majority of working people will see no benefit at all from a cut in inheritance tax. The only beneficiaries of a cut to inheritance tax will be the already wealthy.

For example, there’s no inheritance tax to pay if either the value of your estate is below the £325,000 threshold or if you leave everything above the £325,000 threshold to your spouse, civil partner, a charity or a community amateur sports club.

If you give away your home to your children (including adopted, foster or stepchildren) or grandchildren your threshold can increase to £500,000. It is the wealthy who will benefit the most from a cut in inheritance tax.

Let’s recall that the richest 1 per cent of households have an average household wealth of at least £3.6 million. On the other hand, the least wealthy 10 per cent of households have £15,400 or less, of which half only had wealth in physical assets and nearly half had more debt than financial assets.

Undoubtedly the government and their allies in much of the media will laud any tax cuts as if it is axiomatic that these are beneficial to the economy.

Aiding the rich to get richer would only work for the whole economy if the now-discredited idea of trickle-down economics were accurate. But it isn’t.

After all, we have seen decades of growth in the wealth of the richest in our country as well as of the big corporations. If wealth really trickled down then there would be no financial difficulties for lower and middle-income earners.

The truth is that a deregulated capitalist economy like ours works in the interest of wealth and against the interest of workers.

The most recent deceit designed to justify the increasing chasm between wealth and work is to talk about “the cost-of-living crisis” as though this happened as a result of factors beyond our control.

But we can be sure that people are seeing through the Tory lies. In December a poll by Ipsos Mori showed what the overwhelming majority of people think about the causes of inflation.

Large majorities saw that rising prices were driven by corporate greed in one sector after another. There is a widening gap between an affluent group and an “underclass.”

Meanwhile, the UN rapporteur on poverty condemned the situation in Britain. He didn’t mince his words. He talked about the “systematic immiseration of a significant part of the British population.” The truth about Britain’s ancient and unacceptable class divide is that it is growing deeper daily. The majority of the people understand it. It falls to the left to build on this understanding so that workers pass from perception to action. Our task is threefold. First, we need to call out the flawed narrative that the economy is doing well if the wealthy are living in increased prosperity.

Second, we need to make the case that corporate greed and near-monopoly power in the markets dominated by big corporations are being used to drive up prices and hold down wages to sustain their greed for a higher rate of profit.

Third, our campaigning needs to be more vigorous, clever, bolder and clearer.

British working people fully understand the underlying truths of what has happened. Our case will resonate in working communities everywhere.

So, our task is to see the end of the Tories in office in the new year.

But let’s be clear that we must equally put an end to the damaging right-wing ideology which has scarred our nation and which is embedded so deeply in the British state and the wider political Establishment.

Jon Trickett is Labour MP for Hemsworth.