The effect of benefit policy changes on the incomes of working-age adults and children since 2010 has been an average loss of £375 per year compared with a boost to pensioners of £510 per year.
Those who serve our country often have complex needs and are slow to seek aid. They must not be allowed to fall through the cracks.
Reduce the amount of VAT paid on telecoms to five per cent. Connectivity is an essential part of our daily lives, but that isn’t reflected in how it is taxed.
In future, the economy may run into inflation bottlenecks earlier in economic recoveries than before, thus constraining growth.
When numerous existing schemes are ill-publicised or difficult to sign up for, vulnerable people miss out on much-needed help.
His Spring Statement was a missed opportunity despite some welcome measures – and further measures may be unveiled during the months ahead.
Without swift action, the cost-of-living crisis risks driving even more vulnerable people into the hands of criminal lenders.
It is absurd that people willing to work must instead sit on their hands and depend on state benefits.
The Chancellor should not feel constrained by the OBR’s forecasts into limiting the actions he can take.
The Spring Statement must not focus on the ‘squeezed middle’ to the exclusion of those at risk of genuine poverty.
Pandemic and war, like two horsemen of the Apocalypse, leave the Chancellor scrabbling for a response.
If the war lasts a few years at most, the Chancellor can take the hit. If it’s a new normal that lasts for decades, the outlook is grim.
Lifting the ban on them working will allow them to become tax-paying, economically active members of society.
Children are particularly affected. But will the unfolding political drama leave any room for serious action?
With war tipping economies into a downturn across the world, unemployment will be near the top of the in-tray for the new PM. But long-term problems with the welfare state remain.