UK Budget to Cost 1.3 million Jobs

Reports have emerged that 1.3 million jobs could be cut over the next 5 years due to the UK budget. In a recent private assessment done by the Treasury, for which figures were leaked, it was found that the spending cuts will mean that up to 600,000 public sector jobs and as many as 700,000 private sector jobs will be lost by 2015. However, there is estimated to be 2.5 million jobs created for the private sector over the same 5-year period.

The assessment showed that, in the public sector, between 100,000 and 120,000 jobs will be lost every year during the 5-year period. There will also be between 120,000 and 140,000 job cuts in the private sector every year for the same length of time.

Shadow Chancellor Alistair Darling has criticized Chancellor George Osborn for not revealing these figures when he announced the emergency budget last week. He said on Tuesday that the Conservatives’ poor judgment means that hundreds of thousands of workers will pay the price, and the Liberal Democrats fully support this. They weren’t made to take these measures, he added; they chose to.

There is also some frustration at the Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers union, whose general secretary, Bob Crow, is calling for a strike to be coordinated in response. He said that it will be necessary to take direct action to stop the coalition’s assault on jobs.

The new coalition government’s top priority has become reducing the country’s budget deficit. Some of the increases in taxes and cuts in spending include a VAT rise to 20%, a levy on bank profits and an increase in the insurance premium taxes. They also plan to raise the personal income tax in an attempt to protect low-earners from income tax, while a capital gains tax increase is planned as well. Labour, however, argues that reducing the budget too much, too quickly could endanger economic recovery.