Spring Statement fails families who need help now

• Two-thirds of the financial benefit from raising the national insurance personal allowance will go to better off households
• Average annual wage will fall by £552 this year compared to 2021 under the Chancellor’s plans
• Chancellor should have penalised DP World by withdrawing public contracts

Responding to today’s (Wednesday) spring statement from the Chancellor, which forecasts that wages will fall in value by 2.0% this year, the equivalent to a real terms £552 pay cut, TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said:

“In the midst of the biggest wages and bills crisis in living memory, Rishi Sunak’s Spring Statement has failed families who need help now.

“We did not get the urgent help with soaring bills that families need. And the rise in the national insurance threshold will mostly benefit better off households.

“The Spring Statement small print shows that pay packets are now expected to fall in value by £11 a week this year. After 12 years of Tory government, Britain needs a pay rise. But this Chancellor has no plan to get wages rising and give working people long-term financial security.”

Responding to the Chancellor’s failure to penalise P&O parent company DP World following their sacking of nearly 800 workers with no notice and no consultation last week, Frances added:

“Not only is the Chancellor not standing up for struggling families, he is not standing up to bad bosses. He should have taken all public contracts off DP World, including freeports, and clawed back all funding they received during the pandemic until they reinstate the workers. Bad bosses should know they are not welcome to do business in the UK.”