DIANE ABBOTT MP points out the false premises used by Rachel Reeves in the Spring Statement
THERE is a liberal cliche that the first casualty of war is the truth. In reality it is usually the working class, the poor, disabled people and ethnic minorities.
Typically, they face more pressure and exploitation, longer hours, higher prices or charges, they get less state support and face greater discrimination all as part of the war effort. Or, more accurately, the war effort is used as the excuse to implement long-desired changes which increase exploitation and discrimination of all kinds.
That is what it is happening now.
To give just one example, both the Chancellor and the Secretary for Work and Pensions separately have said many years ago that we should be tougher on welfare than the Tories.
But it is only now, against the backdrop of the Ukraine war and the rhetoric of rearmament that that they are finally able to realise their ambitions.
Tory commentators are amazed and admiring about the depth of the cuts to welfare. One called Rachel Reeves the new George Osborne
This is true across the board. So it seems strange that many on the left are currently unwilling to link the war drive with the attacks on welfare and the cuts to international aid.
PATIENTS in A&E face serious complications from missing doses of prescription medicines while waiting days to be seen, a new report warns.
The Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) study, released today, found that more than half of patients are not identified as being on time-critical medicines (TCM) within 30 minutes of arriving at an A&E.
Nearly seven in 10 doses are not administered within 30 minutes of the expected time.
TCM is prescribed to a patient for existing conditions, such as insulin for diabetes, Parkinson’s drugs, epilepsy medicines and tablets for preventing blood clots.
Last December, it emerged that an elderly man was left unable to swallow after waiting over two days in A&E without being given regular medication, and died four weeks later.
Youth Demand activists in Old Street, central London, April 5, 2025
DOZENS of activists from Youth Demand blocked streets in central London on Saturday, calling for the government to impose a total trade embargo on Israel.
The activists also said the super-rich and fossil fuel elites should be made to pay damages to communities and countries worst harmed by fossil fuel burning.
Monday-Malachi Rosenfeld, 22, a politics and international relations student from east London, took part in the action.
He said: “Every day the Labour government is killing children in Palestine and they do not care so long as the money from Israeli trade keeps flowing.
“We have all seen what’s happening in Gaza and we must not look away. Children are dying. Entire families are starving.
“Our government has a direct part in this genocide and they know it. Just two weeks ago, [Foreign Secretary] David Lammy himself admitted that Israel was violating international humanitarian law.
“Instead of having any humanity, our government is trying to silence and suppress those speaking out about these crimes.”
Genocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpAUK Foreign Minister David Lammy confirms that UK government and military are active participants in Israel’s genocides and that the F-35 parts that they suspended from supplying to Israel are instead simply diverted via the United States. He says see https://youtu.be/QILgUHrdWRE
We come back to Gaza, as all serious discussion must at present. I cannot come to terms with the fact that the takeover of the political Establishment by zionist interests – itself a consequence in the massive growth of the comparative wealth of the ultra-rich – is making it possible for the most brutal genocide possible to happen before the eyes of the world, with active support for [from?] the western establishment.
It is not that the people do not want to stop it. It is that there is no mechanism connecting the popular will to the instruments of government. The major parties all support Israel’s genocide in almost all the western “democracies”.
It has become impossible to deny the intention of Genocide now. Israel has stepped up its killing of children to dozens every day, is openly executing medics and destroying all healthcare facilities, is bombing desalination plants and is blockading all food.
The zionist narrative on social media has shifted from denial of genocide to justification of genocide.
I simply cannot understand the mainstream tolerance of this Holocaust. I am living in an age where the power structures and social narratives I do not recognise as part of a societal organisation to which I can consent to belong. It is the British Labour Party which is actively supporting genocide whilst targeting the most vulnerable at home for cuts in income. It is the EU which is doing everything possible to promote World War 3 and transforming into a militarily aggressive organisation of Nazi leanings.
Still, it's not all bad news.
Israel's genocidal President Isaac Herzog welcomed Ruth Smeeth, Louise Ellman, Christian Wakeford and Margaret Hodge with open arms.
Look at Margaret's face. She was having the time of her life. Bless her.
— Frank Owen's Legendary Paintbrush🥀🇵🇸🇱🇧🇾🇪 (@OwenPaintbrush) April 6, 2025
The UK, US and other first world nations are radically cutting overseas aid to provide money for imperialist military aggression. The broadly social democratic consensus of the western world in my youth involved much dull compromise: but it was infinitely better and more hopeful than this Hell we are creating.
UK Foreign Minister David Lammy confirms that UK government and military are active participants in Israel’s genocides and that the F-35 parts that they suspended from supplying to Israel are instead simply diverted via the United States. He says see https://youtu.be/QILgUHrdWRE
Government cuts to disability benefits will disproportionately inflict suffering on women | Hollie Adams/WPA Pool/Getty Images
Cuts will push hundreds of thousands of women into poverty or force them out of workforce
While the staggering £5bn of planned cuts to disability benefits announced by chancellor Rachel Reeves at last week’s Spring Statement have rightly been the subject of much scrutiny, the disproportionate suffering they will inflict on women has been under-discussed both by politicians and the media.
The government’s own risk assessment found the cuts will push 250,000 adults and 50,000 children in the UK below the poverty line. Women, who are both more likely to be Disabled and more likely to be a carer for a loved one, will be worst affected.
Indeed, single Disabled women make up 44% of those due to lose out from the cuts, and face an average loss of £1,610 per year, the government’s Equality Impact Assessment found.
This demographic has already been significantly affected by austerity cuts to social security and public services since 2010. Such measures, taken together with tax changes, will cost Disabled women an average of £4,000 a year by 2028, according to an analysis that we at The Women’s Budget Group (WGB) published in September last year.
That means, for many Disabled women in the UK, Reeves’ latest cuts follow what has already been an 11% drop in their living standards over the past 15 years. Cutting their living standards further is unthinkable.
Women also make up the majority of the UK’s unpaid carers, who provide care and support to family members, friends, or neighbours. They, too, will be hit hard by the changes.
When a person receives the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) – a benefit to help with the extra costs incurred by long-term ill health or disability – their unpaid carer may be entitled to the Carer’s Allowance benefit. The government plans to reduce the number of people eligible for PIP, which in turn will reduce the number of people eligible for Carer’s Allowance.
A couple where one person loses PIP and the other therefore loses Carer’s Allowance could be over £12,000 worse off annually, according to calculations by anti-poverty charity The Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
Reeves failed to acknowledge this knock-on impact in her speech. Worse still, the Equality Impact Assessment of these changes that was published as the chancellor was still speaking, also made no reference to it (although these impacts were included in the distributional assessment published at the same time).
What’s more, restricting the eligibility for PIP may increase the number of unpaid carers if a Disabled or chronically ill person is no longer able to rely on the benefit to pay somebody to provide their care. This may force women who are currently just about managing to stay in work to reduce their hours or quit their jobs altogether to take on additional care duties for loved ones.
Forcing women out of the workforce in this manner is not only detrimental to their health and wellbeing, it directly undermines the government’s claim that the measures are necessary to reduce economic inactivity.
At the same time, cutting PIP may push some disabled people out of the labour market if they can no longer afford the adaptations and services that enable them to work.
Years of austerity have already weakened our economy and eroded our living standards, leaving us ill-prepared for economic shocks. Cutting vital social security and public services is not the path to improving living standards.
Ahead of the Spring Statement, the WBG, along with more than 40 women’s organisations across the UK, wrote an open letter to the chancellor highlighting the gendered nature of these cuts – and urging her to consider more equitable ways to raise revenue.
Rather than targeting some of the most vulnerable members of our society, the government should be looking into taxing those with the broadest shoulders in our society.
A 2% wealth tax on assets over £10m could raise up to £24bn a year – far exceeding the savings from the proposed disability benefit cuts. This measure has already been called for by Tax Justice UK, which campaigns for a fairer tax system, and Patriotic Millionaires UK, which describes itself as a nonpartisan network of British millionaires.
A wealth tax of this kind could be used for much-needed investment in the foundations of our economy, including our social infrastructure – from childcare and education to social care and local government services.
Moreover, it’s what the public wants. Some 77% would rather the government increase taxes on the very richest than cut public spending, according to recent polling by YouGov for Oxfam.
Investing in social security and public services is not just a cost, but an investment in our society and economy. By choosing to cut benefits instead of implementing a wealth tax, the Government is not just balancing numbers on a spreadsheet. It is making a political choice – one that will deepen inequality and harm those who are already struggling.
Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves wear the uniform of the rich and powerful. They have all had clothes bought for them by multi-millionaire Labour donor Lord Alli. CORRECTION: It appears that Rachel Reeves clothing was provided by Juliet Rosenfeld.Keir Starmer says that his Labour Party is intensely relaxed about assaulting the very poorest and most vulnerable.
