More good news for the Labour Party today as they win three by-elections, holding Croydon North, Middlesbrough and Rotherham parliamentary seats.
The UK Independence Party came second in Middlesbrough and Rotherham, and finished third behind the Conservatives in Croydon North.
The Conservatives continue to fall out of favour with the electorate as their austerity measures – cuts - continue to affect households around the UK., and their new plans to set a minimum price for alcohol of 45p per unit is likely to cause the Conservatives to drop even further down the opinion poles.
On the 5 December 2012 the Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne will be delivering his eagerly awaited Autumn Statement to Parliament which will no doubt include further measures to try and boost growth and aid the UK’s recovery out of the recession.
Many of the tax rates, allowances and thresholds for 2013/14 have already been announced with the main personal allowance set to increase by £1,100 to £9,205 and the top rate of tax set to fall from 50% to 45%.
The new benefit system ‘Universal Credit’ comes into affect from 1st April 2013 which brings all the previous benefits under one single heading. While the government have put in place a new computer system to help the DWP calculate the new Universal Credit for individual claimants, it remains untested, and errors may lead to thousands of people on low income not getting the full benefit rate they are entitled to. Labour will be able to capitalise on this in 2013 to gain even more popularity.
Already we are receiving comments & emails concerning the new Housing Benefit system, which sees households losing benefit money for each extra empty room in their homes, which is also proving unpopular, and is now being referred to as “a stealth TAX.”
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