Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey has slammed the Chancellor for giving twice as much away in tax cuts to bankers as extra catch-up funding to help children make up for lost learning during the pandemic.
Analysis by the Liberal Democrats shows that reducing the banking surcharge will cost the Treasury over £3.8 billion over the next four years. This compares to just £1.8 billion of additional catch-up funding in today’s Budget. That is the equivalent of £1 of extra catch up funding per child every school day, compared to a £6 a day tax cut for each banker.
Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said: “This was an out of touch Budget that is taking ordinary families for granted, hiking up people’s taxes while failing to help them with soaring energy bills this winter. We’ve seen a lot of spin but very little on the three big crises we face: the cost of living, the climate emergency and children’s lost learning.
“Parents are crying out for the catch-up funding our children desperately need. The Chancellor let them down today, offering less in extra catch up funding than his tax cut for the big banks.
“Rishi Sunak has sent a clear message to children and parents across the country: they are worth less to him than his investment banker chums in the City. We can see clearly what his priorities are, and they are not those of the British people.
“He is offering a measly pound a day of extra catch up funding for each child, six times less than the tax cut being offered to the Conservatives’ banker buddies.”