Lifestyle Special by A Fortnightly Column Paul Rogers

Impact of our Budget on Third World's economy
IN ONE of the national newspapers the day after last week's Budget, there was an interesting juxtaposition of stories — a sad comment on the outlook behind the Budget.
In one column it was reported that the tax cuts would result in the chairman of one large company getting an effective pay. increase of over £28,(XX) a year, a little over £500 a week. In the adjoining column was the news that Britain's iid programme was to be cut tis £50 million a year. '
These two stories neatly illustrated one of the main • messages of the Budget, "to them I that hath shall be given". The r other was. of course, "live now, pay later".
The news about the aid cut was particularly had coming so soon after the failure of the UNCTAD 5 conference in Manila. One of the few clear messages to come out or that meeting was that the problems of the Third World remain far worse than those of the industrialised countries. As a result. the need for good foreign aid is greater than ever.
I am not claiming that our aid programme is particularly good — there is certainly room for improvement. But in recent years there has been an improvement in the programme, both in terms of quality and quantity.
We arc all part of one world community. and one would have thought that most western governments would by now have realised that it is in their own long-term interests to ensure a stable and developing Third World, Not so at least for this Government. and the signs are that the recent cut may be the first or several — certainly the downgrading Of the Ministry of
Overseas Development three weeks ago seems to suggest this.
What about the effects or the Budget in Britain'? At first sight it seems to be a traditional swings and roundabouts affair, with tax cuts being balanced by VAT increases and the like.
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But if we look at things more closely we see that this is far from the truth. The manner of the income tax cuts means that the richer you are. the higher the cuts.
If you stand back and think ahota it for a minute. doesn't it astound you'? Is it being totally naive to think that it is the poorer people in society who need more help, or is that to be branded as a hopeless Left-wing idealist, quite out of' touch with reality?
As a result of the Budget a married couple on £3,000 a year will get a tax cut of £106. They will still pay £400 tax a year and the saving will probably all go on increased VAT charges.
By comparison, a couple on £15,000 will pay £1,038 less tax a year. In other words, the richer you are the more you will get. Great Britain will be great for a few.
Surely it would have been rather fairer to have arranged the tax cuts in the form of increased allowances. All taxpayers would then benefit, but many millions of people would no longer have to Pay tax. Perhaps this. too, is idealistic.
For that matter. can anyone at all, with all the problems we now face, justify an actual income of over £10,000 a year? Yet this Budget encourages precisely that mentality.
Do not be under any illusion that we face major economic problems in the next few years. A few days ago we heard that the balance of payments deficits were
rising alarmingh, . This would be a problem at any time, but ir we allow for the benefits of North Sea oil then we should be experiencing colossal surpluses.
In other words the oil bonanza is doing virtually nothing to disguise our precarious economic situation and there is a real possibility that we are starting a fundamental transition out of a conventional industrialised society.
Such a transition would probably be difficult at the best or times, and I am not suggesting that the last government was in any real way facing up to the problems; it was more a case of papering over the cracks. But compared with them the present lot are happily undermining the foundations.
In the near future we will need very high levels of co-operation within our society. Instead of a Budget designed to help encourage that, we have a Budget which is, at root, socially divisive. It will make it more difficult for people to work together. It will encourage greed and discourage co-operation. A winter of discontent will stretch into a
decade.oubt the better off among No d us will retire to our selfsufficiency patches, dig up the lawns and guard our growing potatoes jealously, and declare that we arc poor but happy, and that society is all the better for it, neatly forgetting that we may consider ourselves happy, but it will certainly be others who are poor.
There is just one consolation in all this. The mess that is likely to result from present policies will be so had that it will force us all to look for real sustainable alternatives, It may be a hard lesson to learn. but ultimately it could be to the advantage of us all. I find it difficult to imagine that we might come to see the present Government as a brief but necessary phase in our history, but it could just happen!