People take part in the People’s Assembly Britain is Broken national demonstration in central London, November 5, 2022
AHUGE demonstration is being held in central London tomorrow to “send a message” to the government over spending cuts and welfare reform.
The People’s Assembly said it expected thousands of trade unionists, campaigners and activists to attend the protest.
The campaign group accused the government of making spending cuts that target the poorest in society.
A spokesperson said: “The adherence to ‘fiscal rules’ traps us in a public service funding crisis, increasing poverty, worsening mental health and freezing public-sector pay.
“Scrapping winter fuel payments, keeping the Tory two-child benefit cap, abandoning Waspi women, cutting £5 billion of welfare by limiting PIP [personal independence payments] and universal credit eligibility and slashing UK foreign aid from 0.5 per cent to 0.3 per cent of GDP, while increasing defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP, are presented as ‘tough choices.’
“Real tough choices would be for a Labour government to tax the rich and their hidden wealth to fund public services, fair pay, investment in communities and the NHS.”
Keir Starmer says that the Labour Party under his leadership all feel a small part of Scunthorpe.Keir Starmer confirms that he’s proud to be a red Tory continuing austerity and targeting poor and disabled scum.
[UK prime minister Keir Starmer poses in front of soldiers. He] has vowed to put more money in the pockets of working people, but those on lowest incomes are predicted to be hardest hit financially. Photograph: Simon Dawson/No 10 Downing Street
Living standards for all UK families are set to fall by 2030, with those on the lowest incomes declining twice as fast as middle and high earners, according to new data that raises serious questions about Keir Starmer’s pledge to make working people better off.
The grim economic analysis, produced by the respected Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF), comes before the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, makes her spring statement on Wednesday in which she will announce new cuts to public spending rather than increase borrowing or raise taxes, so as to keep within the government’s “iron clad” fiscal rules.
In December, the prime minister announced a series of new “milestones” that he said would be passed before the next general election, which is likely to be held in 2029. The first of these was “putting more money in the pockets of working people”.
But with many Labour MPs already deeply concerned over Reeves’s plan to raise about £5bn by cutting benefits, including for disabled people, evidence that living standards are on course to fall markedly under a Labour government – and to decline most for the least well off – will add to the mood of growing disquiet in party’s ranks.
The JRF analysis rests on a realistic assumption that the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) will adjust its forecasts in line with the Bank of England and other main forecasters when it makes them public on Wednesday. The OBR is expected to halve the expected growth rate for this year from 2% to about 1%.
In what it describes as a “dismal reality”, the JRF said its detailed analysis shows that the past year could mark a high point for living standards in this parliament. It concludes that the average family will be £1,400 worse off by 2030, representing a 3% fall in their disposable incomes. The lowest income families will be £900 a year worse off, amounting to a 6% fall in the amount they have to spend.
The JRF also said that if living standards have not recovered by 2030, Starmer will not only have failed to pass his No 1 milestone but will also have presided over the first government since 1955 to have seen a fall in living standards across a full parliament.
Keir Starmer commits to play the caretaker role for Capitalism through the “hard times”.Keir Starmer confirms that he’s proud to be a red Tory continuing austerity and targeting poor and disabled scum.
dizzy: Despite being intended as satire, my satire is proving very prophetic, even correct. 26/3/25. That’s not correct is it? While satire was an intention, it’s clear that the intention of many instances was to project into the future.