The Austerity Illusion

 

There are now just hours to go until the public will be taking to the polling stations and casting their votes for the general election. Tensions are running high and I swear to God if I hear Theresa May come out with a pathetic sound bite one more time I’m going to lose my shit and run through a field of wheat with a covfefe on my head.

The reason that these sound bites are so frustrating is because they hold about as much irony as when she said that the UK hasn’t done enough to tackle terrorism, when that has literally been her job for seven years.

Coalition of Chaos

We have heard countless times, members of the conservative party referring to a Coalition of Chaos, supposedly headed up by Jeremy Corbyn. How unthinkable – parties with opposing views joining together to run the country as an unelected Government! The fact is that we have already seen a coalition of chaos. 2010 brought us the Conservative/Lib Dem coalition, providing with us with David Cameron, our very own unelected Prime minister (they seem to have a habit of doing this). During their five years in power, the Conservative/Lib Dem coalition embarked crippling austerity, causing the start of unimaginable chaos to our public services. The parties introduced the following austerity measures;

The bedroom tax; aimed at low income/unemployed families - according to the TUC, this affected a total of 31% of all working age families in the social rented sector. They also slashed Legal Aid, the top rate of tax was cut from 50p to 45p, we saw Sure Start centres from across the country being shut down (612 in just four years) [site 4children], the Sure Start Maternity grant was also abolished - costing low income mothers £500 and hitting the poorest the hardest, education maintenance allowance for 16-18 year olds was snatched from the hands of the poorest students attending further education, the armed forces were cut - creating a loss of thousands of soldiers, as well as the RAF losing hundreds of helicopters and planes, Child Trust Funds were totally abolished, we have also seen huge numbers of changes to benefits. Child benefit was frozen for a total of three years, inciting a cumulative loss of £1,000 to families with two children, families receiving working tax credits saw a rise in the number of hours they had to work from 16 to 24…the list goes on, including cuts to GP surgeries, Remploy, Youth Centres, local council funding, local parks, police, buses, education, income support, youth employment and support allowance, prisons, public sector pay, mental health.

Basically the coalition government slashed everything they could get their paws on, if I were to list it all in detail it would take up the full blog post, however you can find all the information here.

Strong Economy

Two years on, now with a Conservative government in power and we are still seeing violent austerity across the country. We are being told that we must live within our means and that these measures will create a ‘strong economy’ (you know, that thing they have been promising us for seven years but we are yet to see).

Wrong.

The conservative government displays public spending in the same way as managing a household income. When you are tight on money you make savings through cutting out luxuries; you stop shopping at Sainsbury’s and go to somewhere like Aldi, you decide not to take that holiday that you’ve been planning, you cancel your gym membership – because who are you kidding? You never go anyway.

Cutting back on luxuries works well as a way to survive when you are low on money. The fact is that this logic is not transferrable to government spending and austerity is not about cutting down on luxuries – it is about cutting vital public services that help the majority of people living in this country to thrive.

By cutting funding to education, the poorest children are unable to gain the knowledge and skills that they so desperately need for the future. By cutting spending on mental health services we see individual’s health deteriorate, often resulting in a loss of employment, then housing and sometimes a loss of their own lives. By cutting benefits we see more people pushed into poverty and therefore further from the jobs market, more reliant on our underfunded NHS, more reliant on our underfunded social care services and more reliant on underfunded local authorities.

Do you see a pattern here yet? Circa 100,000 children fell into relative poverty in 2015-16, showing a year on year increase of one percentage point. Not only that but people with disabilities have had to withstand the worst of our government cuts, many of whom have literally had their human rights violated as a result of austerity. Between 1st April 2016 and 31st March 2017, The Trussell Trust’s Foodbank Network provided 1,182,954 three day emergency food supplies to people who literally could not afford to eat. Of this number, 436,938 went to children.

The Tories boast that they have created record numbers of jobs, yet fail to mention the record rise of in work poverty under their leadership; the Nuffield Foundation found that the risk of poverty for adults living in working households rose by more than a quarter (26.5%), from 12.4% to 15.7%, during the ten year period 2004/5 to 2014/15.

The fact is that there is nothing strong about one of the richest countries in the world having literally hundreds of thousands of citizens who can’t afford to feed themselves.

Magic Money Tree, Magic Money Tree, Magic Money Tree

On the BBC Election Debate, the night that our Prime Minister Theresa May went missing, we heard Amber Rudd squealing about Labours ‘magic money tree’. Throughout the campaign we have seen this phrase banded about – probably a tactic used to avoid the fact that the Labour manifesto is fully costed and has the backing of 120 economists from across the globe, while the only figures that appear to be in the Conservative manifesto (in the words of John MacDonnell) are the page numbers.

“There is no magic money tree!” we hear them scream, “We can’t just find this money from nowhere! We have to build a strong economy to afford such luxuries as money that allows people with disabilities to live independently and…you know…eat.”

Funny that, because it seems that there is quite a large sum of money floating around.

In March, the conservatives managed to implement their inheritance tax cut, meaning that couples who pass on homes worth up to £750,000 pay no inheritance duty. Not only this, but by 2020 even homes up to £1million will be exempt from the tax. According to figures from the House of Commons library, this measure will cost the taxpayers £1billion over the next three years, while only benefitting 26,000 of the country’s richest households – and I can guarantee those are not the ‘just about managing’ that Theresa May loves to speak about.

We have also seen a huge tax cut for high earners by pushing up the threshold for paying the 40p rate of income tax, we have seen a reduction in corporation tax and cuts to capital gains. They implemented the new ‘lifetime ISA’ which means that wealthy parents are now able to open tax free savings accounts for their children, deposit up to £4,000 a year and gain £1,000 of tax payer money as a bonus. On top of this they have allowed people with spare rooms, houses or flats to get a tax break on the first £1,000 a year they make renting them out online, not only benefitting people with extra properties but encouraging them to let them out on a short term basis rather than long term.

The fact is that austerity does not work. The method has been widely discredited by economists. Back in 2012, the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) chief economist, Olivier Blanchard, said that although his organisation never bought into the notion that austerity would actually boost economic growth, the IMF now believes that it massively understated the damage that spending cuts inflict on a weak economy.

But why would our Conservative government continue down the path of austerity if it is doing nothing but pushing thousands of people into poverty and taking away any hopes for decent employment? It’s not like they are too stupid to realise what is happening. They aren’t doing it just because they hate poor people, people with disabilities, mental health needs, single mothers and everyone else who is losing out. Nor is this an accident. This is a very well planned out dismantling of our welfare state and it is happening because it widens the gap between the rich and the poor, it strips the pockets of the most vulnerable and in return, lines the pockets of the most wealthy.

I was going to go into a more detailed answer to this question but I think from today’s events and the headlines printed across our right wing mainstream media, it is very clear. The priority of the Conservative party is to enhance the interests of the ruling classes. The majority of our main stream media which happens to be owned by billionaires will continue to push austerian messages to keep this government in power, meaning that they can keep getting those juicy tax breaks.

Austerity is not just about cutting spending, it is also very much about privatisation of publically owned services. Conservative values mean that they are ideologically opposed to having a public sector. By privatising and selling off our public services, capitalism prospers, shifting the priorities of these services from serving the public to generating profits. Cue: zero hours contracts, low pay and restricted worker’s rights.

Is it any surprise that in 2015, the Conservatives signed their biggest private deal on our NHS - £780million to be exact – to private firms, half of which have ties to the party.

For the Many

Whatever the result tomorrow, we can take a glimmer of hope from this election. Not only has Theresa May’s car-crash of a campaign been highly entertaining to follow; starting by basing all promotional materials around May herself, rather than the Conservatives as a whole, presenting herself as a ‘strong and stable’ leader, followed by her refusing TV debates, avoiding the general public at all costs and basically imploding during questions given by TV audiences.

The real hope that we can take from this campaign is the excessive support that Jeremy Corbyn has harnessed from previously disillusioned voters. People from all walks of life coming out and backing him. The most vulnerable in society finally finding a voice in politics. The anti-austerity message that has finally been brought to the table.

Even if we lose tomorrow, this campaign has touched so many people and it won’t be forgotten by them. They will continue to vote and they will continue to hold our government to account. During Corbyn’s time as leader he has forced the Conservatives to make huge U-turns on policies that would have had a detrimental effect to the poorest in our country, with the backing of new voters, he or whoever takes his place, can and must continue to do this.

Social mobility on this level has never been easy and if Corbyn were to win it would be the most monumental change in political history dating back to the war. We must take his campaign as a victory and we must make a promise to ourselves and each other that we will continue to fight, for the many, not the few.

 

Forget being tactical this June – will you be able to justify your vote?

On Tuesday 18 April Theresa May made her biggest U-turn to date. After months of rejecting the idea of an early election, May stood outside Number 10 and announced that she had changed her mind and would be holding a General Election on 08 June 2017.

Whatever May’s reasons for doing so; be it the Conservative’s lead in the polls, the divide between Corbyn and his PLP or – most likely – the fact that the Crown Prosecution Service is currently investigating more than 30 people, including a large number of Conservative MP’s and their agents, over election expenses from 2015 - I wouldn't like to say.

Reasoning aside, the future is looking pretty bleak for any Labour supporters. The Tories have a good chance of winning this election, possibly with even more seats than they have already, after which they will run riot with Brexit negotiations and continue to slash our NHS and public services, implement policies that reduce equality and increase child poverty, cut funding for schools, social care, decrease wages and workers rights, increase homelessness and the need for food banks, introduce Grammar Schools, cut benefits to the disabled and sell off council houses, all while cutting corporation tax, capital gains tax and inheritance tax. To anyone who thinks this is an overreaction – all of this has been happening for seven years. This is very real.

As for Labour, if they were to lose this, I’m sure Corbyn would be forced into resignation – something that many of the PLP have been desperate for since he became leader (twice). The chances of re-electing anyone remotely left wing will be slim-to-none (unless the McDonnell amendment is passed), Labour would then probably lose a majority of the hundreds of thousands of members that joined the party under Corbyn. This means that the biggest fear since the announcement of the snap election is not just the idea of another five years under a Tory Government, making it a total of 12 if you include the coalition, but the end of the Labour party. The party that, among other things, created the NHS and welfare state, and introduced pensions and the minimum wage.

One thing that I have been trying to get my head around is why people vote Conservative – something that seems so alien to me but is obviously a popular opinion. We now have a party that is speaking about renationalising rail and energy, creating a million good quality jobs, scrapping zero hours contracts and the bedroom tax, building new homes and introducing rent controls and secure tenancies, offering stronger employment rights, ending the privitisation of our NHS and social care, implementing universal childcare, ensuring quality apprenticeships and adult skills training, transitioning to a low-carbon economy, increasing the use of renewable energy, shrinking the gap between the highest and lowest paid, taking action to tackle violence against women and girls, racism and discrimination on the basis of faith, securing equality for all LGBTQ groups and people with disabilities, ending support for aggressive wars and alleviating the refugee crisis. Who is voting for Tory policies that have caused the effects listed in paragraph three, over these policies and why?

I guess what really matters is that we all wake up on 08 June and feel proud of the way we voted. Being able to look yourself in the mirror is one thing, but what about looking into the eyes of your fellow citizens, your fellow humans?

If you are considering voting Conservative, or even using your vote as a protest against Brexit and therefore voting Lib Dem, who hold much of the responsibility for the Conservative’s rule of tyranny, please ask yourself if, when everything is said and done, you would be able to look into the eyes of those effected and feel justified with your decision.

Will you be able to look into the eyes of someone who has a work-limiting disability, who has had their benefits consistently slashed, making it nearly impossible to live independently, who faces physical and verbal abuse on almost a daily basis as a result as being labeled a scrounger, who has to go through tiresome checks and assessments to prove to the DWP that they cannot work, who, even if they are able to work, would be 30% less likely to be employed simply because they have a disability, who has literally had their human rights violated by the current government, and tell them that your vote was justified?

What about an asylum seeker who has fled political oppression in their own country and managed to make it to the UK, who then, after six months, gets their asylum claim rejected and is left homeless, hungry and living in constant fear of being deported, who is demonised for being here without paying back into the system but is unable to work because of not being granted asylum. Could you look into their eyes and tell them that your vote was justified?

What about a single mother who is trying her best to put food on the table for her three children after losing a job and her partner, who is unable to work due to extortionate childcare costs, who has been accused of “breeding” in order to receive more benefits and is now having those benefits cut because she has one too many children, who is having to choose between feeding herself or feeding her children, who is having to face the humiliation of relying on food banks just to stay alive. Could you look into her eyes and tell her that your vote was justified?

What about a child who has fled from Syria after seeing their home, school and neighborhood destroyed, losing their parents in the process, who then went on to face the horrendous conditions of the refugee camps, maybe she is a girl and is not even able to get hold of sanitary products so has to face the humiliation of stained clothing from her period, who, after that, was subject to police brutality and sexual exploitation, maybe even sex trafficked, due to our governments insistence of only taking the minimum amount of refugees possible, who longs for nothing more than to be back with their family and to be able to go back to school and continue with her previous life, who is scared and alone without anyone to protect her. Could you look into her eyes and tell her that your vote was justified?

What about a mother who has had the same upbringing as you or I, who had a child that grew up and developed mental health needs but despite suffering from severe anxiety and depression - making most social situations terrifying to manage - was forced to find work or face having their benefits cut. Who couldn’t cope with this ultimatum and believed that the only way out was to end their life, making them one in 590 “additional suicides” brought on by ‘fit-to-work’ tests. Could you look into that bereaved mothers eyes and tell her that your vote was justified?

Everyone’s votes are based on different reasoning, some think about wider society, and some think only of their own situation. This election, many people are voting solely on Brexit and forgetting the many other issues that will be affected. If you are voting Lib Dem purely on the basis that they are opposing the referendum, while disregarding their track record in government from 2010-2015, then you might as well be voting Tory. Brexit will go ahead no matter what, there is basically nothing we can do to change this, even if we wanted to. We can, however, put our society into the hands of a government that cares and that will help all of the people listed above and more.

My plea to you is to vote Labour on 08 June 2017. They are the only party that can offer this country the social progress it so desperately needs. If you decide not to, then I really hope you are able to justify your decision because we are all responsible for the lives of others within our society.

If you still need to register to vote, you can do it here now: https://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote