Labour has urged the Government not to exploit the coronavirus outbreak as an opportunity to renege on its promises around climate change, infrastructure and levelling up investments.
Speaking ahead of the new Chancellor’s first Budget tomorrow, shadow chancellor John McDonnell said there was an urgent need to to provide extra help to the NHS and care services to tackle coronavirus , but warned that other areas must not be forgotten.
McDonnell said: “I can’t overstate the significance of this Budget. Of course course the immediate and pressing challenge of this Budget is to ensure the resources are delivered to our NHS and social care services to meet this risk head on, to contain it and defeat it.
“Resources are needed to ensure people are protected from the medical and financial harm of this outbreak.
“However the natural focus on the coronavirus should not be a reason, or an excuse, for not addressing equally serious and dangerous threats from the social emergency created by a decade of decline.”
The MP, who will leave his post when Labour elects a new leader and deputy leader next month, said he would return to the back benches as an “elder statesman”.
He added that the response to the virus outbreak by Chancellor Rishi Sunak has been a concern, saying: “Just as the Chief Medical Officer has been able to reassure people with his openness in reporting, so the Chancellor should also be on the economic progress of this situation.
“The Treasury should also take responsibility for coordinating departmental impact assessments and resource planning in order to prepare a funding plan for increased resourcing for agencies and departments, using a variety of scenarios reflecting different possible levels of the severity of the outbreak.
“What concerned me and still does, is the tardiness by the Chancellor in seeking to reassure the public and markets more comprehensively that the Government stands ready to intervene in the economy.”
McDonnell said the government must also take action on climate change, and make this a stand-out feature of the budget tomorrow. adding: “ I hope the fires in Australia, the burning of the Amazon forest and the flooding in our own country has chastened the government.”
Alan Brown MP, the SNP’s shadow spokesperson for Energy and Climate Change, also called for climate change action to be part of the budget plans.
He said that Sunak must commit to ensuring that the UK remains aligned with the high EU environmental regulations after the Brexit transition period.
The MP also added that government ministers must make sure that green energy schemes have long-term certainty, to enable them to secure funding and if investment.
He said: “The upcoming Budget must not be yet another squandered opportunity for the UK government to take action to tackle the climate emergency. In Scotland, the SNP is leading the way with the world’s most ambitious emissions reductions targets in law, and tougher, faster interim targets – with Glasgow also set to host COP26 later this year.
“The UK government must use its Budget this week to set out a package of measures to tackle climate change and to play its part.
“The SNP will continue to challenge the Westminster Tory government to commit to redoubling its efforts, and it is why we have set out a package of measures it must implement if it is serious about climate change.
“Those measures include following the Scottish Government’s lead and targets, stepping back from its efforts to roll back on high EU environmental regulations, improving corporate responsibility in tackling the climate emergency, reforming the UK tax system to support greener choices, securing a Green Energy Deal, and creating a Net Zero Fund.”
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Sunak announced last night, ahead of the Budget speech tomorrow, that he would be unveiling £70m of “toughening up” measures to crack down on criminals on probation.
Downing Street said it was part of the Government’s plan to ‘make Britain’s streets safer’. Among the measures expected include giving prisoners on probation tags to monitor whether they have drunk alcohol.
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