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UK is ‘broke and broken,’ new government says as it prepares to tackle shortfall in public finances (apnews.com)
submitted 5 months ago by Stamau123@lemmy.world to c/world@lemmy.world
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LONDON (AP) — Britain’s new left-leaning government said Sunday that the nation is “broke and broken,” blaming the situation on its predecessors ahead of a major speech on the state of the public finances that is widely expected to lay the groundwork for higher taxes.

In a sweeping assessment three weeks after taking power, Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s office professed shock at the situation they inherited after 14 years of Conservative Party rule, while releasing a department-by-department analysis of the perceived failures of the previous government.

The critique comes a day before Treasury chief Rachel Reeves is expected to outline a 20-billion-pound ($26 billion) shortfall in public finances during a speech to the House of Commons.

“We will not shy away from being honest with the public about the reality of what we have inherited,’’ Pat McFadden, a senior member of the new Cabinet, said in a statement. “We are calling time on the false promises that British people have had to put up with and we will do what it takes to fix Britain.”

Starmer’s Labour Party won a landslide election victory earlier this month following a campaign in which critics accused both major parties of a “conspiracy of silence” over the scale of the financial challenges facing the next government.

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[-] KevonLooney@lemm.ee 2 points 5 months ago

The funny thing is, lots of luxury goods are not priced based on costs, but on demand. That means that if the rich get lower taxes, the values of expensive art and fine wines just go up to match the extra money they have. They can't buy more.

It's the opposite with things the middle class needs. If more people can afford a washing machine, costs can actually decrease because of better manufacturing. There are many washing machine manufacturers, so there's actually some competition.

this post was submitted on 29 Jul 2024
202 points (99.5% liked)

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