Why should we trust the new Prime Minister and his team? - Yorkshire Post Letters

The new Government has been in place for but a short time, yet far from feeling buoyed by the promise of ‘change’ that we were led to believe would follow, every time the Prime Minister, and his Chancellor speak I feel that they are taking on the persona of ‘the fat boy’ in Dickens’ Pickwick Papers, who was fond of saying ‘I wants to make yer flesh creep’.

I believe that we all realise that world events have had a major negative effect on the economy, and over time will have to be paid for. The previous government had set a course to start to do this, as evidenced by current growth and inflation figures.

I, and I believe many others are not totally convinced by the £22bn ‘black hole’ figure, or if it was fact, that the incoming Government was unaware of its existence. Surely one of the roles of the OBR is to inform those who ‘need to know’ what the financial position is. We await the October budget to see what taxation policies are put in place, and to work out for ourselves whether we were right to put our trust in Labour.

I believe the decision of the Chancellor to cut the Winter Fuel allowance for all pensioners not in receipt of Pension Credit is blatantly political not economic. It is particularly unfair on those who have worked hard and paid into a small occupational pension to supplement the state one.

To be, say £8 a month over the cut off, means that they are also denied any support on such cost of living items as Council Tax, TV licence etc. The saving to the exchequer of this policy will barely touch the sides in terms of the debt.

If it had been ‘the wicked Tories’ who had taken such a draconian decision without any hint at all in the Manifesto then we might not have been so surprised. For a Labour government, founded on the principles of care for the vulnerable in society to do so has caused a huge amount of totally genuine anxiety and outright fear for many. In my opinion it borders on the immoral.

The Chancellor keeps insisting that she is not for turning on this policy. I sincerely hope that wiser, more humane counsels prevail.