Hammond’s Budget nightmare – as it happened
Philip Hammond: This is an actual publicity shot of the UK’s Chancellor of the Exchequer. Draw your own conclusions!
Here’s a real-time report on Philip Hammond’s Budget:
£700m spent to date on Brexit. A further £3bn allocated for future Brexit requirements. #Budget2017 #NWLive
— Darren Hindle (@AZ_darrenh) November 22, 2017
So he’s wasting money right there.
#Budget2017 "We at last see our debt peaking" says .@PhilipHammondUK – on which planet?
— Mike Sivier (@MidWalesMike) November 22, 2017
#Budget2017 Staged moment as .@theresa_may hands .@PhilipHammondUK a box of cough sweets, a silly reference back to her Tory conference speech. This is a serious matter, not a joke!
— Mike Sivier (@MidWalesMike) November 22, 2017
#Budget2017 Oh, there'll be 600,000 MORE people in zero-hours jobs, part-time work, self-employment, workfare or on sanctions by 2020? Is that an achievement?
— Mike Sivier (@MidWalesMike) November 22, 2017
#Budget2017 OBR revises economic growth DOWN. Another great achievement for our rubbish Tory government.
— Mike Sivier (@MidWalesMike) November 22, 2017
#Budget2017 Hammond wants to reduce the national debt "not for ideological reasons" – then quotes a series of rubbish Tory ideological reasons.
— Mike Sivier (@MidWalesMike) November 22, 2017
#Budget2017 I'll be extremely surprised if the national debt does fall as Hammond states, especially with Brexit on its way.
— Mike Sivier (@MidWalesMike) November 22, 2017
https://twitter.com/marthasydenham/status/933317023869931520
Hammond says he will provide a 'little help'. I think the emphasis is on 'little'. #budget
— Richard Murphy (@RichardJMurphy) November 22, 2017
https://twitter.com/labourmatters/status/933317040399634432
#Budget2017 What has been achieved by Hammond's productivity fund? Productivity is DOWN!
— Mike Sivier (@MidWalesMike) November 22, 2017
Growth forecasts have been revised DOWN – badly https://t.co/kGnWqnkY8D #Budget2017 pic.twitter.com/Ax0Og3XUJx
— Mirror Politics (@MirrorPolitics) November 22, 2017
#Budget2017 "Facilitating pension fund access" – did Hammond just say he's raiding our pensions?
— Mike Sivier (@MidWalesMike) November 22, 2017
#Budget2017 "There is perhaps no technology as symbolic of the revolution gathering pace around us as driverless vehicles" – or indeed as symbolic of the Tory government.
— Mike Sivier (@MidWalesMike) November 22, 2017
New clean air fund. But look at this:
The Tory legacy on air quality has left air illegally poor across the country. 37 out of 43 areas breach legal limits. #Budget2017 pic.twitter.com/3bPTk91Nc6
— The Labour Party (@UKLabour) November 22, 2017
#Budget2017 3m new apprenticeship starts by 2020 – but only 600,000 new jobs, according to Hammond himself.
— Mike Sivier (@MidWalesMike) November 22, 2017
Plastics: will 'investigate' how to tackle the problem. Investigation is cheap. Do something please. #budget
— Richard Murphy (@RichardJMurphy) November 22, 2017
#Budget2017 “…[we’re] tripling the number of trained computer science teachers to 12,000” But how many of those places will be filed? Teachers are LEAVING the profession.
— Mike Sivier (@MidWalesMike) November 22, 2017
I meant “filled” of course.
Winners so far; electric car industry, mathematicians, turtles caught in plastic. losers; everyone hoping for half-decent economic growth
— gabyhinsliff (@gabyhinsliff) November 22, 2017
Terrible GDP forecasts reflect UK's dismal productivity – a problem made worse by Brexit. #Budget17
— George Eaton (@georgeeaton) November 22, 2017
#Budget2017 Growth deal for Mid Wales? I'll believe THAT when I see it. Pay here is around 3/4 of national average.
— Mike Sivier (@MidWalesMike) November 22, 2017
#Budget2017 Talking up the bankrupt Universal Credit fiasco does Hammond no good.
— Mike Sivier (@MidWalesMike) November 22, 2017
#Budget2017 Seven-day waiting period for UC removed. Big deal. Advance available more quickly. So what – it'll still have to be paid back.
— Mike Sivier (@MidWalesMike) November 22, 2017
#Budget2017 £1.5bn package for UC – and all it delivers are cosmetic improvements. Miserable, miserly and mean-spirited.
— Mike Sivier (@MidWalesMike) November 22, 2017
#Budget2017 Increase in minimum wage – but does it keep up with inflation?
— Mike Sivier (@MidWalesMike) November 22, 2017
No:
#Budget2017: Hammond announces new "National Living Wage": £7.80ph
Actual Living Wage: £8.75ph
— Theresa Griffin (@TheresaEurope) November 22, 2017
7 years of Conservative austerity and still our national debt rises.
That's why we need a Labour government and an economy that works for the many. pic.twitter.com/BkD4PDDJr8
— Richard Burgon MP (@RichardBurgon) November 22, 2017
Just a week after outrageously claiming that police budgets were "protected", Commons figures reveal the Prime Minister has quietly slashed another £413million in funding for forces. #PMQs #Budget2017 https://t.co/MErtK6yXSj
— Dan Carden MP (@DanCardenMP) November 22, 2017
#Budget2017 NHS: Extra £10bn capital investment in frontline services over next five years. Does that keep pace with inflation?
— Mike Sivier (@MidWalesMike) November 22, 2017
#Budget2017 £2.8bn to cover NHS Winter Crises over next three years.
— Mike Sivier (@MidWalesMike) November 22, 2017
Money also to be found from outside current budgets, to cover NHS pay increases.
#Budget2017 Notice Hammond talks real money when he doesn't want us to know whether funding increases are keeping pace with inflation?
— Mike Sivier (@MidWalesMike) November 22, 2017
Phillip Hammond: "The values of our NHS are the values of our nation and we will always back it." The Conservatives voted against creation of NHS.
— Richard Burgon MP (@RichardBurgon) November 22, 2017
Don't want to be po-faced, but Hammond has badly misjudged what he is presenting. This isn't the time for jokes. And even if it were, his jokes are shit.
— Ian Dunt (@IanDunt) November 22, 2017
Under the Tories, the tax gap stands at £34 BILLION. That money could be funding our public services. #Budget2017pic.twitter.com/YE2WyVpMVv
— The Labour Party (@UKLabour) November 22, 2017
#Budget2017 Cutting business rate rises by switching from RPI to CPI – another tax cut for chief executives.
— Mike Sivier (@MidWalesMike) November 22, 2017
Having gone for the self-employed and been forced to retreat in the spring, Hammond is taking a conciliatory line towards small businesses today
— Tom Clark (@prospect_clark) November 22, 2017
#Budget2017 Financial support provided for victims of #GrenfellTower fire. Where is it, then?
— Mike Sivier (@MidWalesMike) November 22, 2017
#Budget2017 Funding to be provided for fire safety work on local authority-run dwellings. Believe it when you see it!
— Mike Sivier (@MidWalesMike) November 22, 2017
#Budget2017 £28 million invested in new projects to halve rough sleeping by 2022.
— Mike Sivier (@MidWalesMike) November 22, 2017
#Budget2017 Housing: Reference to Help to Buy is not clever as it has contributed to house price increases.
— Mike Sivier (@MidWalesMike) November 22, 2017
#Budget2017 Reference to "Labour's" great recession is boneheadedly stupid as we all know the banks caused it.
— Mike Sivier (@MidWalesMike) November 22, 2017
#Budget2017 Claim to be creating huge increase in housing supply is risible as previous promise to produce 200,000 houses has yet to result in a single home.
— Mike Sivier (@MidWalesMike) November 22, 2017
#Budget2017 Planning 'reform' – look out. The devil's in the detail but don't trust Tories.
— Mike Sivier (@MidWalesMike) November 22, 2017
#Budget2017 Reason for gap between planning permissions and house build starts is developers waiting for the biggest profit. Everyone knows that. Hammond should intervene NOW but doesn't have the guts.
— Mike Sivier (@MidWalesMike) November 22, 2017
#Budget2017 Stamp duty abolished for first-time buyers of homes costing up to 300k.
— Mike Sivier (@MidWalesMike) November 22, 2017
That’s Hammond’s speech covered. Now, Jeremy Corbyn:
#Budget2017 Corbyn: The test of a Budget is how it affects the reality of people's lives. This Budget will unravel, people will be no better-off. Misery will continue.
— Mike Sivier (@MidWalesMike) November 22, 2017
#Budget2017 Corbyn: Pay is lower than 2010 and falling again. Economic growth revised down. Productivity down. Business investment down. People's living standards down.
— Mike Sivier (@MidWalesMike) November 22, 2017
#Budget2017 Corbyn: Deficit was to be eradicated by 2015. Now we're looking at 2025. They're missing their major targets but the failed and damaging policy of austerity remains.
— Mike Sivier (@MidWalesMike) November 22, 2017
#Budget2017 Corbyn: Rough sleeping has doubled since 2010. This Christmas, 120,000 children will be in temp accommodation. Three new pilot schemes for rough sleepers won't cut it. People need action now.
— Mike Sivier (@MidWalesMike) November 22, 2017
#Budget2017 Corbyn: Life expectancy is falling under this government, and an extra 1m children will be plunged into poverty. 1 in 6 pensioners are in poverty.
— Mike Sivier (@MidWalesMike) November 22, 2017
#Budget2017 Corbyn: Falling pay, low growth, rising poverty are what the Chancellor calls a strong economy.
— Mike Sivier (@MidWalesMike) November 22, 2017
#Budget2017 Corbyn: Poorest have lost 10% of income; richest just 1%.
— Mike Sivier (@MidWalesMike) November 22, 2017
#Budget2017 Corbyn: Hammond's solution to UC problems is to offer a LOAN, and six-week wait becomes a FIVE-week wait.
— Mike Sivier (@MidWalesMike) November 22, 2017
#Budget2017 Corbyn to Hammond: Put UC on hold, and stop 1m children being thrown into poverty!
— Mike Sivier (@MidWalesMike) November 22, 2017
#Budget2017 Corbyn: If the pay cap is over, where is the pay rise for so many UK workers?
— Mike Sivier (@MidWalesMike) November 22, 2017
#Budget2017 Corbyn: More than £6bn cut from social care budgets.
— Mike Sivier (@MidWalesMike) November 22, 2017
#Budget2017 Corbyn: More deprivation for schools. Services for most vulnerable children under more demand than ever – and a £2bn shortfall in funding.
— Mike Sivier (@MidWalesMike) November 22, 2017
#Budget2017 Corbyn: You cannot keep communities safe on the cheap.
— Mike Sivier (@MidWalesMike) November 22, 2017
#Budget2017 Corbyn: 5m people are on less than minimum wage – increase of 1m. More than 7m working people in poverty.
— Mike Sivier (@MidWalesMike) November 22, 2017
#Budget2017 Corbyn: Why no cap on credit card debt, to make sure nobody pays back in interest more than they borrowed?
— Mike Sivier (@MidWalesMike) November 22, 2017
#Budget2017 Corbyn: This government has delivered the worst rate of house-building since the 1920s. And it says nothing about high rents in the private rented sector that drain the benefit budget.
— Mike Sivier (@MidWalesMike) November 22, 2017
#Budget2017 Corbyn: Every region in North England has seen a fall in government spending since 2012.
— Mike Sivier (@MidWalesMike) November 22, 2017
#Budget2017 Corbyn: The government has the lowest investment rate in the G7.
— Mike Sivier (@MidWalesMike) November 22, 2017
#Budget2017 Corbyn: Far from clamping down on tax avoidance, the government is trying to turn the UK into a tax haven.
— Mike Sivier (@MidWalesMike) November 22, 2017
#Budget2017 Corbyn: Hammond says councils should contact him for funding for sprinklers after #GrenfellTower – but those who did have had NOTHING in return.
— Mike Sivier (@MidWalesMike) November 22, 2017
#Budget2017 Corbyn: The economy, like the government, is weak, unstable and in need of urgent change.
— Mike Sivier (@MidWalesMike) November 22, 2017
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I went for a walk, trying to digest the substance of the budget. The Autumn wind releasing the last leaves from next doors apple tree. It reminded me of the disheartening loss of social fabric in Britain. My neighbor appeared with an electric saw, and explained that for the past few years the tree had suffered from blight, and was now so diseased it needed to come down. I stood back as he started the saw, the tree was down in minuets. I wonder if he guessed my thoughts as I strolled away.