Shotts MP Neil Gray has hit out at the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s decisions contained in this week’s Spending Review.
Mr Gray fears that his constituents will be hit hard by decisions by Rishi Sunak which will punish public sector workers and families on low incomes.
New analysis from the Resolution Foundation has found that average pay packets could be cut by £1,200 a year by 2025.
The Resolution Foundation warned “weaker pay growth and higher unemployment will serve to prolong Britain’s living standards squeeze”, which is on course to last for 15 years following the economic shocks of Brexit, Covid-19 and the financial crash.
Mr Gray said: “This spending review did nothing but deliver cuts for my constituents across Airdrie & Shotts. The Chancellor is showing his true colours now that the Covid 19 crisis is showing no signs of abating. Instead of helping people through it he is going to throw them under a bus.
“A pay-freeze for the public sector staff who have been on the front-line fighting Covid is a kick in the teeth for those the Chancellor was clapping a few months ago.
“That is just the tip of the iceberg, not applying the £20 uplift to legacy benefits is cruel as is the proposal to remove it from Universal Credit claimants from April. “With a projected downturn in jobs due to businesses closing, more and more people are going to have to rely on UC or other benefits to feed their families, yet Mr Sunak feels it is right to make a hard life even harder.”
