Chancellor Rachel Reeves delivered her Spring budget Statement to the nation, once again proving that Labour still has no economic plan despite nearly a year in office.
Reeves has announced a round of panic measures designed to cut government spending, which she claims is a response to changing global factors. Markets were unsettled by her plans for last autumn’s budget, especially the increase in employers’ national insurance contributions, and today’s statement is unlikely to calm nerves.
Labour seeks a radical cut in the working-age benefits bill, particularly disability benefits, to fund increases in defence spending and adhere to the government’s self-imposed fiscal rules. However, the cuts are so extreme that even the most severely disabled people in society, especially those under the age of 22, will see their support reduced.
The Homeland Party supports helping those who can work to live independently, yet Labour has twisted this goal into a cynical cost-cutting exercise. Even George Osborne, the Conservative Chancellor who first implemented austerity, would never have introduced such unnecessary reforms.
If we are to help those who can work return to the workforce, we must first clear the backlog in the NHS and provide skills and training to those who need them—rather than forcing more vulnerable people into poverty.
However, what is missing from Treasury pronouncements is often what matters most.
The cost of mass immigration is crippling this country, yet Labour is emphatically opposed to seeking any solutions to this problem. NHS waiting times are soaring precisely because of inflated demand. The system cannot cope with net migration exceeding 700,000 per year. We cannot build hospitals or train new staff fast enough.
Migrant hotels are still costing the taxpayer billions of pounds per year, yet Labour has no plan to resolve this enormous drain on public finances. If there is a black hole in public finances, we should begin by cutting these mass migration subsidies and implementing remigration, particularly for those who have entered the country illegally or committed crimes against our people.
But more than this, we need a plan for our future.
The Homeland Party is willing to implement radical solutions to prepare our economy for the 21st century. We will not kneecap public investment in infrastructure and housing simply because a government quango, such as the Office for Budget Responsibility, has made an unreliable prediction about the future. Nor will we seek to warmonger abroad and waste the blood and treasure of our people on foreign conflicts.
Only by reviving true industrial output and bringing back stable, well-paid employment can we hope to provide the economic security needed to win the battle for our nation’s future.
