Comment on the ‘Budget waffle’

More budget waffle from Osborne and his alter ego Ed Balls. No mention by Balls of the £750 billion lying in the banks being used, not to invest, but to line the pockets of the spivs who control the banks.

Yesterday Barclays, the bank condemned for fixing Libor rates, awarded its boss Rich Ricci a £17.6 million windfall bonus which he celebrated with champagne at the races.

No mention by Balls of the £100 billion uncollected taxes while thousands of tax workers are losing their jobs.

No attack on the Con-Dem phoney employment figures. Youth unemployment increased by 54,000 last month.

Many jobs are low-paid, part-time or zero hours. Some don’t even exist. Young people working for no wages are classed as employed.

Balls and his friend Miliband have declared that, if elected, they will stick to Con-Dem spending plans. Confirmation that the Tories and Labour are – in their policies – two wings of the same capitalist party.

The answer:

1. Escalate the pressure on the TUC to call 24-hour general strike

2. Ratchet up the anti-cuts organisations

3. Develop the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) as a fighting socialist political alternative

Tony Mulhearn, Liverpool Socialist Party and member of ‘Liverpool 47’