Rishi Sunak comes under fire for not scrapping council tax or utility bills as part of government’s £350billion coronavirus bailout
- Axing both payments were mooted ahead of today’s Number 10 press briefing
- Richard Burgon said Mr Sunak did ‘nothing for those who’ll struggle to pay bills’
- Anxious Britons fearing the virus will pound their wallets also lamented absence
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Rishi Sunak has come under fire for not scrapping council tax or utility bills in his emergency coronavirus relief package.
Axing both payments were mooted ahead of the Chancellor’s Number 10 press briefing this afternoon as ways for self-isolating Britons to save money as the accelerating crisis pounds the nation’s wallets.
But amid praise for rolling out an eye-watering £350billion bailout to keep businesses afloat, there was no mention of freezes to council tax and utility bills.
Labour’s shadow chancellor John McDonnell ripped into the government’s cash injection as ‘not addressing the concerns’ of ‘people being laid off and losing their incomes’.
He also suggested Mr Sunak and Boris Johnson did not ‘appreciate the urgency and gravity of the situation’, despite them both claiming to be acting like a ‘wartime government’.
Rishi Sunak has come under fire for not scrapping council tax or utility bills in his emergency coronavirus relief package
Britons bracing for the health crisis to pound their wallets have criticised the government for not providing enough relief
In a dramatic step-up in measures to tackle the outbreak, the government yesterday advised against social contact and told the over-70s to remain indoors.
Many more hours spent at home will inevitably hike electric, water and gas bills which will squeeze the pockets of already struggling Britons.
Yet shadow justice secretary Richard Burgon, who is running to be Labour deputy leader, weighed in to claim the Chancellor had provided ‘nothing for those who’ll struggle to pay bills’.
Labour MP Nadia Whittome also lined up to condemn the Prime Minister and Chancellor, and demanded a moratorium on bills.
She tweeted: ‘Support for mortgages is right but Sunak offers nothing to renters, no help with bills, and no promises on sick pay.’
As well as the Conservatives’ political rivals, Britons fearing redundancy and a waning income stream also questioned why such measures were not in the announcement.
Shadow justice secretary Richard Burgon, who is running to be Labour deputy leader, weighed in to claim the Chancellor had provided ‘nothing for those who’ll struggle to pay bills
Britons fearing redundancy and a waning income stream also questioned why such measures were not in the announcement
Axing both payments were mooted ahead of the Prime Minister and Chancellor’s Number 10 press briefing this afternoon as ways for self-isolating Britons to save money as the accelerating crisis pounds the nation’s wallets
After this afternoon’s briefing, which also included the chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance, social media was flooded with members of the public lamenting the lack of tax and bill holidays.
One anxious Briton called Phil tweeted: ‘Boris, the only things that people want assuring on is that if they do have to self-isolate, their bills will be covered.
‘My wife works at a school on the front line, helping your policy of keeping schools open.
‘What if she gets the virus? What help will she get back?’
And Pedro Avery tweeted: ‘What about a holiday on council tax and energy bills? For every household that’s a massive cost?’
Ahead of Mr Sunak’s speech, Office for Budget Responsibility chief Robert Chote suggested that paying firms to waive utility bills and ditching council tax could be a good way of helping the public.
The experts also mooted the idea of guaranteeing businesses the same revenue this year as in the last 12 months.
Mr Chote said: ‘This is not the time to be squeamish about one-off additions to public sector debt.
‘It’s more like a wartime situation – that this is money well spent.’