Labour prospects in May elections may be irrevocably damaged by Birmingham Council’s costly refusal to settle the year-long dispute, warns STEVE WRIGHT
THE LABOUR PARTY this week has demanded an Emergency Budget in response to the cost-of-living crisis and confirmed the party’s re-commitment to the abolition of non-dom tax status.
Both announcements come as rocketing inflation outstrips pay and social security rises and in the aftermath of news that, as a non-dom, the Chancellor’s wife has not previously paid UK tax on earnings outside the UK.
The Emergency Budget demand, whilst a positive headline, would have hit home better and motivated voters ahead of the local elections, with some concrete commitments to lift incomes through increased social security payments, a higher national minimum wage and a large public-sector pay increase.
Under current policy, welfare cuts are just a small downpayment on future austerity, argues MICHAEL BURKE



