Government Must Help the Needy (Helen Foster-Grime)

Helen Foster-Grime <info@helenfostergrime.com>

Government Must Help the Needy

February 4, 2009 12:00 AM
By Helen Foster-Grime

The recent gloomy economic news has made for dismal reading. Job losses have increased, the value of the pound has plummeted, and in the past couple of weeks two reports have been extremely worrying.

Firstly, the IMF is predicting the British economy will shrink faster than any other in the developed world. We're officially in recession and they say it will get worse for at least the rest of this year. If true, this would blow apart the Labour government's claims that the UK is well prepared for the downturn. Gordon Brown promised an end to 'boom and bust'! Labour should have listened to LibDem Shadow Chancellor Vince Cable.

The second, disturbing report, concerns the true cost of all the money that the Government is throwing at the problem, in a more reckless and unplanned fashion by the minute. It will, apparently, take at least 20 years for the debt to be paid off. Twenty years of higher taxation and reduced public spending. This adds to the price we will all pay for Labour's mismanagement of the economic crisis.

Whilst the value of debt and the amount of money being thrown at the banks often seems unreal, the impact on you and me is significant. The shockwaves of the financial crisis are being felt in households across Stockport. When the banks faced collapse, the Government stepped in. However, millions of families, either already in trouble or about to find themselves in financial difficulties, MUST be helped too.

In November last year the Liberal Democrats tabled a motion in Parliament calling for an immediate substantial cut in tax for lower and middle income families. LibDem Shadow Chancellor, Vince Cable proposed to make the tax system permanently fairer by cutting income taxes for those on low and middle incomes, paid for by getting rid of tax loopholes for the wealthy. Labour MPs voted against it to defeat it. Then in the pre-budget report Labour introduced a £5 billion tax hike that will hit low earners. It beggars belief. Recent research reveals that applications for 'Crisis Loans', needed by low-income families and pensioners unable to get credit elsewhere, have risen by over 68% in the north-west to nearly 500,000 in the past year. However, the rate of refusal has increased dramatically with almost one-third refused by the Government. People who apply for crisis loans are desperate and have nowhere else to turn, yet they're being turned away when they should be getting help! Whilst the Government has demanded that the banks start lending, they themselves are refusing to lend to so many people in real need. Labour has forgotten about the people who need help the most. It has to change now.