The UK spends more on benefits than it raises in income tax with 1 in 10 working age adults now in receipt of health or disability payments. In some areas like Blackpool, Birmingham and Liverpool the figure is 1 in 4. The unprecedented level of expenditure on benefits is partly financed by increased government borrowing, on which the interest payments come to around £110 billion per year, almost as much as the entire education budget. Meanwhile taxation is at its highest level since the war, which depresses economic growth. And what is the Chancellor’s solution to the twin problems of spiralling spending and excessive taxation? He has given council tax payers a gift of £100 and raised taxes still further.
Steven Rose ● 2d