Health chiefs, public sector unions and teaching leaders expressed dismay on Saturday after the new chancellor, Jeremy Huntloomed as the start of a new era of austerity and the threat of more misery for cash-strapped hospitals and schools.
In his first interviews that dramatically replacing Kwasi Kwarteng on FridayHunt provoked widespread alarm by promising “very difficult decisions” for government budgets.
of NHS The confederation, which represents the health care system in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, warned that the prospect of further cuts was “extremely bleak”.
The head of the biggest teaching union for England and Wales denounced Hunt’s attempt to calm financial markets as “disastrous” and “scary” for schools, while another teaching union, the NASUWT, said deeper cuts would cause “immeasurable harm to children’s learning”.
Meanwhile, GMB, which represents more than 500,00 public sector employees, said Decade of Tory austerity from 2010 killed the country and stagnated the economy, adding: “The British people are being used as laboratory rats in a terrible Tory economic experiment.”
of TUCIts 48 member unions representing 5.5 million workers were equally outraged, warning that if Hunt’s approach took “an ax to vital services” he would do as much damage to Britain as the widely derided chancellor. that he had replaced.
AND Unisonwhich has 1.4 million members, called for a snap election on the back of Hunt’s comments, saying it was “horrified that this is the government’s response to a crisis created in Downing Street”.
Appearing on Sky News in his first interview as chancellor, Hunt warned that “all government departments will have to find more efficiency than they had planned”.
Even within his own party, the chancellor’s leadership is likely to be contested considerable opposition. Old Tories were already warning that Hunt would struggle to secure enough parliamentary support for effective cuts to welfare, health or education.
The chancellor, they warn, will face as much opposition as Kwarteng would have if she tried to push through significant austerity measures.
Many MPs, including some in “red wall” seats in the Midlands and North, are vowing to fight any attempt to cut promised infrastructure spending included in Hunt’s plans.
It means that while his promise to cut spending may calm feverish markets, Hunt faces significant parliamentary hurdles to implementing his medium-term fiscal plan, due to be unveiled at the end of the month.
“The difficulty he’s going to have is the same reason Truss said what she said about the spending – she knew she couldn’t get it through the house,” said a senior MP. “I don’t think he’s any different in that respect. Who will vote for welfare cuts?”
Hunt’s cuts will come against a backdrop of rising inflation and a cost-of-living crisis.
The Resolution Foundation estimates that around £20bn-£40bn of further fiscal restraint is probably required for debt to start falling.
Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said Hunt, a former health secretary, would recognize the pressures on the organization but warned of a funding gap that could reach £20bn by 2024-25.
“The prospect of further cuts and the need to identify even more savings is bleak. If this happens, 132,000 vacancies, rundown properties and growing waiting lists, we are at a point where a serious conversation is needed about what the NHS can realistically and safely deliver. This is his [Hunt’s] the moment of truth,” Taylor said.
Meanwhile, the education system is under the same pressure. Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary of the National Education Union, the biggest teachers’ union for England and Wales, said: “It’s really worrying. We need extra money in schools or there will be cuts: heads will cut support staff, cut hours, ask parents for money for school basics when parents don’t have money.
“That’s what we’re going into and the way Jeremy Hunt talks makes it all the more scary.”
Patrick Roach, NASUWT general secretary, added: “The system is already buckling and any further cuts would cause incalculable damage to children’s futures.”
Frances O’Grady, general secretary of the TUC, said: “A responsible government would make it a top priority to rebuild our services after the damage from the last decade of cuts and the pandemic.”
Unison general secretary Christina McAnea said: “Nobody voted for this. Essential services need investment, not another round of damaging cuts.
“An election is needed immediately to put an end to this economic madness.
Elsewhere, Gary Smith, general secretary of the GMB, added: “The Tories have destroyed the economy – now they expect working people to pay the price once again.” Austerity cuts to the NHS, public health and social care from 2010 onwards killed tens of thousands more people in England than expected, University of York research found last year.
Other effects included the closure of key council services, including hundreds of youth centres, libraries and subsidized bus routes.
