A living wage will be of little help to the working poor if George Osborne cuts tax credits at the same time
This is what blue revolution looks like. Wednedsay’s budget liberates George Osborne and David Cameron to be themselves. Now they can complete Thatcher’s mission, doing what she never dared. Early disguises are shed, so there is nothing stealthy about their intent. The axe swings in full public view against everything their modern party detests, from benefits to the BBC, from windmills to Whitehall, the arts to local councils, with special attention to the obnoxious young.
Why not? Who will oppose them? Humiliated Labour is on its knees. Osborne taunts Labour: go on, oppose welfare cuts and nail yourselves back in the Miliband coffin marked “On the side of scroungers”. Nothing checks their triumph, with allelujahs from their press, who expect rewards in BBC cuts.
If Osborne were serious about pay, he would start by paying a living wage to care workers
Related: Inheritance tax giveaway to feature in first Tory budget alongside welfare cuts
Related: Business groups reject PM's plan to replace tax credits with higher pay
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