Vital action to turn around our fortunes

Mr Hunt has warned he faces decisions of ‘eye-watering difficulty’ (Image: Getty)Jeremy Hunt has the grim task of filling a £55billion black hole in the nation’s finances and warns us the cure will be hard to swallow. He is expected to usher in a new era of stealth taxes, including the freezing of income tax thresholds which could raise £35billion a year by 2028. It will mean many of us will see our incomes shrink by the equivalent of a 6p rise in the basic rate, says the Institute for Fiscal Studies.Mr Hunt has warned he faces decisions of “eye-watering difficulty” but, with a general election barely two years off, the Government has little time to restore growth. Voters will be furious if the country’s fortunes don’t turn around soon and the potential for public strife is stark.The prospect of a nurses’ strike in pursuit of a 17 percent pay hike has filled us all with dread as winter approaches. Hard-working NHS “angels” have massive public sympathy, but it will ebb away if, as predicted, their action leads to three million operations being delayed.It is in the interests of the Government, nurses and the wider public that both sides get around the table and strike a fair and affordable deal.Then ministers can get back to taming inflation to ease the cash pressures on the rest of us.The sight of clever lawyers exploiting loopholes to get Just Stop Oil activists off the hook will make many people ask who is running the country.Our learned friends are quick to profit from any gap they see in legislation and have been hyper-active when it comes to stopping the deportation of illegal migrants.Now we learn highly-paid lawyers are stifling police efforts to halt demonstrators who cause mayhem by climbing on motorway gantries.Chris Noble of the National Police Chiefs’ Council has branded protesters “reckless, selfish and stupid” and accused them of “putting lives at risk” with their motorway blockades.Top officers are calling for greater legal clarity so the laws of the land can be enforced.Our laws were made to protect the general public and allow them to go about their lawful business unhindered – not to give a free pass to potty protesters.The Government should end needless ambiguity and close loopholes so these nuisances can be arrested and punished.Our nation fell silent for two minutes today to remember those who fell in defence of our freedoms.The sacrifices of those who perished or suffered injuries to body and mind must never be forgotten. We should also express gratitude to the many veterans at the heart of our communities. In England and Wales alone, around 1.9 million people have served in the Armed Forces.And we should also spare a thought for today’s servicemen and women who are ready to pay the ultimate price today or in the future.