… on a quiet day, I can hear her breathing

Category: Austerity 2

  • Morning Star: Mass action is the antidote to Labour-Tory policy consensus

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    https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/editorial-mass-action-antidote-policy-consensus

    Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves speaking about the economy at the Association of British Insurers in the City of London, May 7, 2024

    “LABOUR and the Tories move closer on economy.”

    Thus a headline in the Financial Times last week. The FT speaks not just to and for British finance capital, but to capitalists worldwide needing a steer on British and international politics.

    Unlike the bought-and-paid-for Tory press, it usually does so without demagogy or partisan point-scoring. Its conclusions are therefore to be taken seriously.

    It writes: “Despite being the official opposition, Labour has signally refused to oppose many of [Jeremy] Hunt’s recent economic policies…” including the cuts to National Insurance.

    Further: “Hunt set out 110 measures to boost the economy in his 2023 autumn statement and Labour opposed none of them. The same applied to all of the policies announced in the chancellor’s spring budget this year.”

    Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves has also agreed with all Chancellor Hunt’s financial services reforms, has accepted his target of ensuring falling debt as a share of national income within five years, and adopted his corporation tax rate.

    The Tories have repaid the compliment up to a point, stealing Labour proposals on taxing non-doms and the North Sea oil and gas industries.

    But this convergence is mainly on Tory terms, with Labour dumping any proposal, like its green investment plans, which sit outside the consensus around a new austerity.

    For that is what is on offer at the general election. It is a further squeeze on public services and wages to help improve the competitive position of British capitalism.

    Reeves and the Labour Party pretend that their approach represents “change” because it offers “stability” after years of Tory chaos.

    …

    https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/editorial-mass-action-antidote-policy-consensus

  • David Cameron slammed for ‘swanning around’ in £42m luxury jet as Tories prepare to slash sickness benefits

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    https://leftfootforward.org/2024/04/david-cameron-slammed-for-swanning-around-in-42m-luxury-jet-as-tories-prepare-to-slash-sickness-benefits/. Many articles from LeftFootForward today.

    The foreign secretary travelled on the hired Embraer Lineage 1000 for a five-day visit to Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Mongolia last week

    The Tories have been slammed for their rank hypocrisy, after former Prime Minister David Cameron hired a £42 million private jet to travel around Asia, costing the taxpayer hundreds of thousands of pounds, while the government prepare to slash benefits for people suffering from depression or anxiety.

    The foreign secretary travelled on the hired Embraer Lineage 1000 for a five-day visit to Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Mongolia last week, the Mirror reported.

    The shadow attorney general, Emily Thornberry, posted on X: “I get that David Cameron may need to charter a plane when travelling to multiple countries in one week, but that does not justify spending hundreds of thousands of pounds at taxpayers’ expense to hire one of the most luxurious private jets on the market.”

    The taxpayer is footing the bill for the private jet at the same time as the Tories cut benefit payments for those with disabilities and physical and mental health conditions.

    …

    https://leftfootforward.org/2024/04/david-cameron-slammed-for-swanning-around-in-42m-luxury-jet-as-tories-prepare-to-slash-sickness-benefits/

  • 24 MPs sign motion calling to reconsider two-child benefits limit

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    https://leftfootforward.org/2024/04/24-mps-sign-motion-calling-to-reconsider-two-child-benefits-limit/. Many articles featured from LeftFootForward today.

    The motion expresses ‘incredulity’ that the government hasn’t assessed correlations between the two-child limit and child poverty levels

    A motion signed by 24 MPs has called on the two-child limit to be reconsidered while expressing disbelief that the government has not assessed the correlation between child poverty and the Tories benefit cap as new research came to light. 

    Tabled by Labour MP Mary Kelly Foy, the Early Day Motion highlighted research from the End Child Poverty Coalition which revealed how some of the most vulnerable families are those hardest hit by the two-child limit. 

    Introduced in April 2017 by the Tories supposedly as an incentive to get parents into work, the policy prevents households from claiming universal credit or child tax credit for a third or subsequent child.

    Concerns were raised by the government’s own Work and Pensions Committee in 2019 which recommended that the policy be abandoned, warning that the limit would increase the number of children in poverty and disproportionately affect minority groups.

    …

    https://leftfootforward.org/2024/04/24-mps-sign-motion-calling-to-reconsider-two-child-benefits-limit/. Many articles featured from LeftFootForward today.

  • People with depression or anxiety could lose access to benefits in Tory welfare reforms

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    https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/people-depression-or-anxiety-could-lose-access-benefits-tory-welfare-re

    At eternity's gate by Vincent Van Gogh portreys depression. Copyright expired.
    At eternity’s gate by Vincent Van Gogh portreys depression. Copyright expired.

    PEOPLE suffering from depression or anxiety could lose access to sickness benefits as part of the government’s major welfare reforms, the Work and Pensions Secretary said today.

    Mel Stride announced plans to overhaul disability benefits in a statement to the Commons, with proposals aimed at providing “more tailored support in line with their needs.”

    In a green paper published alongside Mr Stride’s statement, ministers set out plans to reform personal independence payments (PIP), the main disability benefit, through changes to eligibility criteria and assessments.

    The proposals follow Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s announcement of major changes to the welfare system earlier this month, saying that “people with less severe mental health conditions should be expected to engage with the world of work.”

    Tom Marsland, policy manager at the national disability charity Sense, said recent government narrative around disability benefits has been “divisive and deeply damaging.”

    …

    https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/people-depression-or-anxiety-could-lose-access-benefits-tory-welfare-re

  • Millions living in ‘dangerous’ homes that put people’s health at risk, charities say

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    https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/millions-living-dangerous-homes-putting-peoples-health-risk-charities-say

    Houses, August 19, 2014

    EIGHT million people are at risk of ill-health caused by substandard housing that is putting “enormous strain” on an overstretched NHS, a coalition of charities warned today.

    Nine charities are backing a national Safe Homes Now campaign, demanding an end to the “scandal” of 3.7 million “dangerous” homes “that pose significant risk to inhabitants’ health” in both the private rented and owner-occupied sectors.

    The charities said the “hidden housing crisis” included shocking conditions such as rat infestation, damp, leaks and mould on children’s bedding.

    They said that grant support for home repairs has been slashed by more than £2 billion over the past decade, preventing the repair of 600,000 homes.

    And they highlighted that 2.2 million owner-occupied homes were now defined as “unsafe” — double the number in the private rented sector.

    A survey by campaign founder the Centre for Better Ageing revealed increasing problems with heating costs and home maintenance bills.

    The nine charities, including St John Ambulance, Race Equality Foundation and children’s charity Barnardo’s, are calling for a “national strategy to tackle the poor quality of the country’s homes” that includes halving the number of unsafe homes within the next decade to improve the nation’s health.

    …

    https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/millions-living-dangerous-homes-putting-peoples-health-risk-charities-say