Sorry Guido, but there really is a cost of living crisis and it's getting worse under a Tory government.
Guido Fawkes has put up a curious post this morning in which he claims that, rather than there being a cost of living crisis, voters are actually better off now than they were in 2010:
“Throw in the income tax threshold hike (£493), the savings from holding down council taxes (£210) and you have already countered the Balls attack in cash terms – and some – at £1,703. Meaning that in terms of disposable income the “average working person” is better off.”
In other words, the rise in personal allowance and the fact that council taxes haven’t significantly increased since the coalition came to power outweighs the fall in living standards due to prices rising faster than wages.
Unfortunately for Guido and the Tories, this is simply untrue.
Even when excluding the impact that falling wages are having on peoples’ living standards, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) says that taking into account tax and benefit changes since 2010 a majority of working households are worse off now than they were when the coalition came to power.
As senior research economist at the IFS Robert Joyce puts it:
“Looking at all the measures that are happening that started in 2010 and that are happening to the end of this parliament, if you look at all the measures announced over that period, then most of those families will lose overall because of things like the main rise in VAT back in January 2011.”
And as John Rentoul has also recently noted on disposable income, comparing the last whole year of Labour – Q3 2009 to Q2 2010 – with the most recent year to Q2 2013, real households’ disposable income per head fell by 2.2 per cent.
Sorry Guido, but the coalition really are presiding over a cost of living crisis.
35 Responses to “Sorry Guido, but the Tories really are presiding over a cost of living crisis”
JJ
No mention of the failure of the banks and their irresponsible lending contributing to the economic crash then?
blarg1987
Think you will find economic mismanagement has been 30 years in the making, first started by the Conservatives and carried on by New Labour.
sparky
In 2011 Financial Services in the UK:
Contributed 9.6% of UK GDP in 2011
Contributed £63bn in taxation revenue.
Employees in the financial sector contributed 15% of UK income tax, despite making up just 4% of the nation’s employees.
Yes, their financial models contributed to an economic crash in 2008. But prior to that they contributed to periods of economic boom that have vastly benefited businesses and employees and living standards. It’s called Capitalism, and it has lifted millions of people out of poverty across the world. Far more people have benefited from free markets than ever have, or will, from socialism.
LB
Tax. Not a factor? Think again. The Condems have screwed people with tax to pay for Labour’s pissing money up the wall.
LB
So how much did the banks cost? Hmmm. lets see. Ah yes, the BoE booked a profit because they charged penal rates of interest. Then there’s all the tax from the banks that weren’t incompent. About 400 bn in taxes, and so far no payouts for losses. The compenstation all came from the compentent banks.
Meanwhile, hows the state doing? All that money its received and ‘invested’.
Hmmm, pension debts? Off the books a la Madoff. The deficit there is 734 bn a year, all down to Labour, On top of the borrowing deficit.