The Perspective #02: February24

Budget breakdown: Tory success or potential villainess

Aditi Prashanth

Have you ever wondered how the Budget could impact your pocket? Brace yourselves for the Spring Budget of 2024, promising a variety of financial changes.

Time to debrief. 

It seems that Jeremy Hunt sure has played his cards well with the average worker receiving an extra £450 per annum, due to the 2% decrease in National Insurance, from 10% to 8%.

Meanwhile, Hunt pledges to increase the limit for child benefits from £50,000 to £60,000, as well as increasing the VAT threshold for small businesses to £90,000. However, the combination of these policies seems to give rise to the question of how exactly a decrease in government tax revenue can fund an increase in government spending on child benefits? Well, I’ll leave you to ponder that over.

It must also be noted that despite the charms of the policies above, you cannot go jet-setting off into the horizon just yet, for Hunt’s increase in airline business class taxes (APD) simply hasn’t taken off. This policy has triggered a backlash from the airline industry, with Tim Alderslade, the chief executive of the industry’s representative body Airlines UK, stating that “stealthy tax rises” would only make the UK “even less competitive on the global stage, with aviation taxes and airport charges already amongst the highest in the world.”

Hunt also finally confirmed the abolishment of the “non-dom” tax system - which previously allowed those earning money overseas to not pay UK tax on their incomes and earnings. However, new arrivals into the UK still will not have to pay taxes on foreign income for four years. 

Perhaps a more relatable policy to end with: the government’s announcement of a tax on vapes and e-liquids from October 2026. It proposed: £1 per 10ml for nicotine-free e-liquids, in a motion to reduce the ever-growing number of vape users, especially among the younger generation.

Overall, the government’s proposed spring budget has provided policies that will help lower-income families significantly, continuing Johnson’s levelling up approach, but it must be noted that Keir Starmer has certainly voiced his strong opposition towards the proposed budget, stating that the budget in question was the “last desperate act of a party that has failed”.

Finally, I believe this leads us to pose the question: will this Budget be a Tory success or a potential villainess?

The election of George Galloway- the beginning of the end?

Shay Patel

On the 29th of February 2024, George Galloway was elected as MP for Rochdale, following the death of Labour veteran Tony Lloyd. A former Labour and Respect MP, Galloway has now taken up the first seat in the Commons for the Workers’ Party of Britain. He and his party target extremely left-wing voters, and focused his recent campaign on the atrocities ongoing in the Middle East; he decided to dedicate his by-election win to Gaza. He is a man who also strongly defends the achievements of the Soviet Union.

George Galloway blatantly refused to condemn Hamas’ attacks on the 7th of October, and repeatedly chooses not to recognise Israel as a country; he prefers the term ‘Occupied Palestine’. His campaign targeted Muslim voters, of which there are many in Rochdale, and pledged to be an advocate for Palestinians in the current war. 

There has been much controversy throughout Galloway’s political career; one pivotal moment being when he met Saddam Hussein, the despotic, tyrannical ex-leader of Iraq, where he praised and saluted him endlessly. 

Galloway has pledged to take Angela Rayner’s seat in the Commons, and to ensure that Keir Starmer doesn’t win the upcoming election; his strategy to do this is to win over the Muslim vote and provide ‘viable’ alternatives to Labour candidates. 

The election of George Galloway is disturbingly worrying for the future of British democracy. He and his extreme leftist party are vowing to endorse the type of Islamist extremism heavily condemned by other parties and provide sympathy to the extreme minority. The fact that people are willing to vote for such a candidate speaks volumes about the future of UK politics; this Rochdale by-election heavily highlights the susceptibility of the UK democracy to extremism and totalitarianism.

Who knows what the future holds for our democratic system…

The EU: calm or complacent…How long until the cracks begin to show in Europe?

Juliette Hussey 

In recent years, Europe has remained relatively peaceful in terms of conflict. However to what extent is this true and are the superficial ties of this ‘peace’ beginning to unravel?

Although concerns about Ukraine have only come to the forefront of media speculation in recent years, the conflict was really instigated by Putin’s choice to invade Crimea an entire decade ago suggesting unrest in Europe has been growing for some time now.

Furthermore, questions over what will follow if and when Iran fulfils its goal of acquiring nuclear weapons, are arising. Amidst rumours of Al-Qaeda reemerging in Afghanistan thanks to support from the Taliban, greater friction appears to be looming East of Europe. 

Recent comments from Macron point towards a French interest in further European involvement in the Ukraine conflict. Last year he was the forerunner of other EU leaders sending Western fighter vehicles to Kyiv. In light of this, Macron’s criticism of European action, describing it as 6-12 months behind schedule amidst his suggestions of providing ground troops, suggests a further inch towards the precipice of war in Europe.

Macron’s description of Ukraine’s invasion as a ‘European war’ also interestingly features alongside republican suggestions of a Trump-led 90-day notice of withdrawal from NATO. Republican refusal to contribute towards Ukraine, advising Europe should fund its own defence systems points at a nearly complete withdrawal of support from the US.

Recently, neither Biden nor Trump have attempted to shirk the stereotype of America’s insularity in terms of conflict. Thus, in light of the tensions arising across the continent and Trump's lead in polls predicting a return to a Republican US, the prospect of shrinking European defence capability appears to be very real.

A lesson undoubtedly learned from this continent’s history is that the value of such alliances should not be understated and the dangers of a European ‘sleepwalk’ into such conflict unprepared.

The Election Year:

Krish Chaddha

When we think of the legacy of 2024 in the history books, the impact of the US and UK elections will indubitably stand out as key chapters. However, 2024 will see more voters heading to the polls than ever before- 64 countries will have national elections this year, representing an unheard-of 49% of the global population.

However, it would be naive to suggest that all elections would be fair, with the likes of Russia and North Korea having elections this year.

On the 16th of February, Alexei Navalny - a critic of Putin and opposition leader - died whilst in prison. It is widely believed that Navalny died due to his anti-corruption demonstrations, and the looming Russian Presidential elections. This evoked a response from Navalny supporters, and whilst Putin's presidential victory is inevitable, seeing how support for the opposition manifests will be interesting.

Pakistan's election has been marred by a series of democratically dubious dealings: The imprisonment of former PM Imran Khan for allegedly selling state gifts, leaking state secrets, and having an illegal marriage in 2018; the suspension of mobile phone services and slow counting support allegations of vote-rigging. Nonetheless, Shehbaz Sharif has been declared Pakistan’s new Prime Minister. 

Lai Ching-te has been announced as the president-elect of Taiwan. The crisis in the Taiwan Strait is a focal point of international politics, given that Taiwan produces over 60% of the world's semiconductors thereby gaining the support of the US. After his victory, Lai said that he is ‘determined to safeguard Taiwan from continuing threats and intimidation from China’- this attitude could lead to a military conflict and potentially a US-China confrontation.

As 2023 drew to a close a ‘political earthquake shook Argentina’ as far-right Javier Milei became president on the 19th of November. His slogan? ‘Make Argentina Great Again’. Perhaps this unexpected result foreshadows the rematch of Biden vs Trump in November. Results from primaries and caucuses demonstrate Trump's far-reaching support and that Biden’s initial stance on the Gaza war hinders his prospects for a second term.

The implications of these elections allude to a paradigm shift in geopolitics, as 8 of the world's 10 most populous countries will have visited the ballot whilst pressure mounts for the wars in Gaza and Ukraine to end.