The SNP has demanded that the Chancellor urgently rethinks and rejects a return to damaging Tory austerity.
During his media round today, Jeremy Hunt repeatedly warned of “difficult decisions” in his upcoming Budget, failed to rule out a return to Tory austerity, and warned of higher taxes for everyone.
Commenting, SNP Shadow Chancellor Alison Thewliss MP said:
“A return to Tory Austerity 2.0 would be a hammer blow for millions of people across Scotland and the UK who are struggling to make ends meet.
“The Chancellor should be preparing a Budget that strengthens support to put money into people’s pockets and helps to properly tackle the Tory-made cost of living crisis – instead it’s clear he is intent on ushering in a new era of Tory austerity by attempting to balance the books on the backs of some of the most vulnerable in society.
“The Chancellor must rethink and reject those plans and look to deliver real support as a bitter winter approaches for many – including protecting the pensions triple lock, raising benefits in line with inflation, expanding the windfall tax, and introducing a tax on share buybacks and scrapping the controversial non-dom status.
“The reality is, however, that we are in this economic crisis precisely because of the damaging decisions taken by Westminster.
“The only way to properly tackle the cost of living crisis and build a fairer future is with the full powers of independence.”
