The new challenges that have confronted us since the beginning of the 2020’s, from Covid-19 to the Russian Invasion, in addition to the United Kingdom forging its new path as an independent nation outside of the European Union, have increased economic uncertainty and vulnerability at an alarming rate. This economic certainty is not unique to the United Kingdom, but is in fact worldwide, hitting every country from the United States to Australia. One particularly challenging aspect of the economic fallout from the past two years is the large rise in inflation and spike in living costs. However, the Conservative Party is committed to tackling this challenge head on, as shown by the Chancellor’s spring statement.
The economic situation as it currently stands is particularly trying for families up and down the country, and indeed across the world. It is the possibility of these unprecedented and unpredictable times that lead David Cameron and George Osborne to make the tough decisions they did between 2010 – 2015 – in order to ensure that the United Kingdom was in a position to face these economically challenging times. As it currently stands, the annual inflation rate is around 6.2%, expected to rise to an average of 7.4% for the remainder of the year. Due to Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, it is clear that we cannot continue to rely on Russia’s oil and gas, and while the United Kingdom is in a much better position than other European countries to make this switch, worldwide oil and gas prices will still hit consumers here. However, it is not all bad news, thanks to the Conservative Party’s long standing and robust economic policy, unemployment is still lower than the OBR’s projections, our economy is forecast to grow a further 3.8% this year, and our debt as a percentage of GDP is continuing to fall.
Delivered to the House of Commons last week, Chancellor Rishi Sunak set out his next steps in tackling the challenges of rising living costs and inflation. Starting with the rise in oil and gas prices, Rishi Sunak announced that fuel duty will be cut by 5 pence per litre, the largest fuel duty cut ever. Moreover, homeowners who wish to install energy saving materials such as solar panels or insulation will pay no VAT on these adaptions. With regards to rising inflation, the Chancellor is prioritising putting more money in people’s pockets by raising the threshold for paying National Insurance to £12,570 a year, bringing a tax cut of over £330 a year for workers. The Chancellor also promised more tax cuts in the future, with a cut to the basic rate of income tax from 20 pence to 19 pence.
While the Conservative Party take action to tackle the rise in the cost of living, Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP have claimed that Rishi Sunak has not done enough to help struggling families. While the SNP are more than entitled to their own opinion, they may wish to be reminded that they are in fact the party of Government in the most powerful devolved parliament on the planet. If the SNP have any bold plans or ideas to help solve this hard economic period, they have the power to do so. But of course, they prefer to shout from the sidelines rather than do any actual work themselves, pretending to be in opposition and not in Government, and Scotland pays the price for it.