Austerity Is not the Answer

Austerity in this country is ideologically driven and based on a wrong and frankly cruel notion; that the poor and working class are to blame for Tory economic failure.

Former investment banker and now Chancellor, Rishi Sunak is considering continuing austerity by freezing social security and public sector pay. This won't be the first time a Tory government punishes the poor under the guise of balancing the books. They have form.

From the moment they returned to government in 2010, the Conservatives immediately commenced a brutal program of austerity under the guise of clearing the deficit.

A deficit they falsely blamed on excessive spending by the previous Labour government. In other words, the last Labour government had been too lenient towards the undeserving poor and this needed to be rectified. 

The truth of the matter of course, is the global economy was suffering as a result of the banking crash. Economies across the world were plunged into recession, government incomes took a nose dive and many were running at a deficit. 

Armed with their false narrative they began a decade of budget cuts. The glaring issue with austerity is not only that it doesn't work, but that it disproportionately affects the working class; as the more wealthy an individual is, the less they rely on public services and social security. 

The human cost of the remorseless austerity measures is evident for all to see. With the BMJ suggesting 120,000 preventable deaths linked to health and social care cuts alone. That's without mentioning the countless social security deaths. Or the rising poverty, homelessness and food bank use. 

It's also no secret that the NHS is on its knees from years of chronic underfunding. A service that is more likely to be accessed by the poor. The Conservative government have proven time and time again that they simply don't care about anyone who isn't the 1%. 

Then Coronavirus happened and two major but conflicting issues came to the forefront; protecting human life and protecting the economy. 

Britain had its first case in the end of January. Boris Johnsons government were reluctant to impose lockdown because they prioritised the economy over human life and it wasn't until late March that a national lockdown was imposed.

Inevitably, lock downs bring the economy to a grinding halt. Workers are the backbone of the economy and if they're not earning and spending, then there is no economy, so to speak. 

Businesses were given access to loans, workers were furloughed, evictions were temporarily banned, welfare claimants were given a £20 a week uplift (after a four year freeze) and so on.

We're six months in and the eviction ban has ended, furlough is due to end next month and the UC uplift is due to end in April 2021. 

Now the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak is toying with the idea of austerity again; freezing social security and public sector pay once again, and wanting to scrap the pension triple lock. He's previously said that "difficult" decisions will have to be made. 

If the billionaire former investment banker Rishi Sunak goes ahead with this, it will come as a crushing blow to millions of struggling families who have already suffered through a decade of biting austerity under consecutive Tory governments. I can't stress this enough. 

It was cause more hardship, more suffering for those already suffering under this Conservative government and will push millions into poverty or deeper poverty. 

Perhaps he ought to try and claw back some of the lost billions by taxing the wealthy properly because austerity isn't the answer. It doesn't work and only inflicts pain and suffering. 

The Lord's Economic Affairs Committee has said that Universal Credit is failing millions and has significantly contributed to poverty in the UK. The four year freeze on UC has played a large part of this and if the chancellor presses ahead with another freeze, people will die. 

But then again, the Conservative party just don't seem to care.

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