Investment in UK’s crumbling public services is pro-growth, says pensions minister
Exclusive: Torsten Bell defends Labour’s spending plans, saying ‘the status quo is economically and morally bankrupt’
“The reason why the budget is pro-growth is because you cannot have a failing state and a growing economy,” he told the Guardian.
“I’ll give you a concrete example: I walk into a Sainsbury’s in Uplands, in Swansea, and there are security guards on the door. Why are there security guards on the door? Because there isn’t a functioning response to shoplifting, right? That is a retail tax. We are taxing retail to pay for the failing state – and that is what we are turning around.”
Turning to the impact of the struggling NHS, he said: “It is like a sickness tax on every business in the country if their workers are off because they are not being treated.”
Isn't this obvious? I'm not putting them down, but isn't this the kind of logical reasoning that we need in order to move forwards?
It's obvious to anyone who has been using their mental faculties
Unfortunately we have a large number of people whose media diet of the mail, the express and GBNews, means they resist anything that will actually improve their lives
It is obvious, it's just nice to hear it from the government to actually acknowledge it. I doubt we'd have heard anything like this from the previous lot.