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alfiecumberworth
4th October 2022

Why Liz Truss is taking you for a fool

The recent mini-budget has shown the Tories are blatantly rigging the economy in favour of the super-rich – here’s how and why Liz Truss is taking you for a fool!
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Why Liz Truss is taking you for a fool
Prime Minister Liz TrussPhoto: Simon Dawson / No 10 Downing Street @ Flickr

You’re an afterthought for Liz Truss’s government. Or at least this seems apparent following the findings of The Resolution Foundation, which suggest that the richest 10% will benefit two times as much from the planned government interventions and tax cuts than everyone else.

Not only this, but her refusal to implement a windfall tax on energy companies has forced her to borrow the money. This, in turn, means that it won’t be energy companies footing the bill for this intervention, it will be the likes of me and you in years to come.

It’s confusing why she’s prepared to do anything but impose a windfall tax on energy companies, such as Shell, who have already recorded profits of $11.5 billion. However, it all becomes clear when you look into her past.

Indeed, our new PM used to be a commercial manager for Shell, and her leadership campaign was partly funded by beneficiaries of BP. Taking this into account, it all starts to make sense as to why she won’t touch the unimaginably large sums of money these energy giants are taking away from you through your bills.

But Liz Truss isn’t the only person in this new government who is actively working against you. The new chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng has made his vision for Britain clear with his new mini-budget. Far from a focus on improving the lives of the working class, many of which lent their vote to the Tories in the 2019 election, Kwarteng has instead focused on improving the lives of the super-wealthy.

He has scrapped the highest tax bracket, meaning economic elites will be able to line their offshore bank accounts with even more money than before. He has also scrapped the bankers’ bonus cap brought in by the EU following the 2008 financial crash, effectively awarding bankers an unlimited pay increase.

Whilst the Bank of England tells you not to ask for a pay increase, the bankers of England will be lining their pockets. This must be one of the Brexit benefits we were told about, I guess.

I hope it is clear to you that, despite the rhetoric of helping everyone, actions speak louder than words and the actions of this new government already speak volumes.

These actions aren’t surprising, though, when we consider how Truss landed the role of Prime Minister. After all, she was only elected by Tory Party members, eight in ten of which believe themselves to be within three highest economic groups. Take this into account and it’s fair to say that this new government has succeeded in giving its electors what they wanted, just at the cost of what the country needs.

Usually, the Conservatives are more discreet about siphoning off public funds into the hands of the elites. After all, it took the media a while to notice the eye-watering amount of taxpayer’s money that got into the hands of friends, spouses, and even pub landlords during the Covid crisis. But even I am blown away at the nerve of the current iteration of the Tory Party to be so overtly pro-elite, and the worst part is that we cannot do anything about it.

Truss has seemingly already ruled out a possible general election before she is legally obliged to hold one, so we are stuck with a selfish, heartless, and ultimately reckless government. As bleak as it is, for now you and I must bear the brunt of Truss’s backwards economics and utter distaste for working people.

I deeply hope this will be seen as reactionary bluster come the next election but unfortunately, if what we’ve seen so far is anything to go by, my hopes will sadly be in vain.


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