Public service funding pressures test Treasury's tax commitments
The Treasury faces pressure to fund deteriorating services, including the NHS, while honouring commitments against broad-based tax rises on working households, leaving the government heavily reliant on targeted corporate tax changes and efficiency requirements.
In a satirical funding clinic, a Treasury official prepares to draw money from a manufacturing executive to supply an NHS bed. But the executive has arrived wearing a hospital gown over his pinstripe suit, carrying an empty drip bag and an application for tax incentives. The official pauses, realising that the intended donor also expects treatment.
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