Last week was pretty depressing for most Surrey residents; only the top 3% of earners will benefit from Phillip Hammond's autumn budget. He announced yet another reduction in Corporation tax to 17% which will be great for shareholder dividends and Company Director bonuses but will take money away from the public services that the rest of us rely on in our times of need.
Last month the Surrey Council Tory cabinet member, Mel Few, wrote to the Guardian and criticised his own government for not increasing funding for adult social care. He mentioned that his Surrey budget was heading for a £21 million overspend in 2016/17 and that the government were not doing enough to help. The cost of social care has increased partly because the private companies who provide care are no longer allowed to pay staff below the minimum wage (about time too.) However it should never have been for the poorly paid to subsidise public services when the most wealthy in society were receiving tax cuts.
All of the big tax breaks that have been brought in by May/Cameron governments have failed to help the lives of the 'Just About Managing,' in other words the majority of us who work hard, pay tax and need to rely on our NHS and Social Care when poor health strikes us. To add insult to injury, Mrs May repeated last years election promise that the NHS is to receive an extra £10 billion; the figure is actually only £4.5 billion and is not enough to save the NHS from £22 billion of cuts!
My assessment of the government is that they are not 'just about managing' to strengthen the economy, they are merely continuing to rebalance it in favour of the very wealthy and not the people who voted them into power.
Last week was pretty depressing for most Surrey residents; only the top 3% of earners will benefit from Phillip Hammond's autumn budget. He announced yet another reduction in Corporation tax to 17% which will be great for shareholder dividends and Company Director bonuses but will take money away from the public services that the rest of us rely on in our times of need.
Last month the Surrey Council Tory cabinet member, Mel Few, wrote to the Guardian and criticised his own government for not increasing funding for adult social care. He mentioned that his Surrey budget was heading for a £21 million overspend in 2016/17 and that the government were not doing enough to help. The cost of social care has increased partly because the private companies who provide care are no longer allowed to pay staff below the minimum wage (about time too.) However it should never have been for the poorly paid to subsidise public services when the most wealthy in society were receiving tax cuts.
All of the big tax breaks that have been brought in by May/Cameron governments have failed to help the lives of the 'Just About Managing,' in other words the majority of us who work hard, pay tax and need to rely on our NHS and Social Care when poor health strikes us. To add insult to injury, Mrs May repeated last years election promise that the NHS is to receive an extra £10 billion; the figure is actually only £4.5 billion and is not enough to save the NHS from £22 billion of cuts!
My assessment of the government is that they are not 'just about managing' to strengthen the economy, they are merely continuing to rebalance it in favour of the very wealthy and not the people who voted them into power.