Budget 2015 says "people who are unable to work deserve nothing"

You have probably all heard a lot about the budget from the government which was revealed yesterday. Perhaps you think that it all sounds promising. Maybe you will be better off because of the changes being made. However, there are millions of people who will not.

A “budget for working people” is certainly what the government want to highlight. They want everyone to think they are being fair by rewarding hard work. They are not being fair, they are dividing society more and more.

All the GDP figures that are thrown around, all the numbers and predicted results of the changes mean nothing. GDP is all about corporate profits. These numbers they keep spewing fail to take into account that there are things more important than money – people’s lives. The predicted GDP ignores the increase in people having to use food banks, the increase in homelessness and the suicides caused by austerity measures.

Will this budget benefit you? Well, if you are wealthy then yes. If not wealthy, then either things will not change for you personally or they will get a whole lot worse. Let’s stop just thinking selfishly about the impact on ourselves and look at the bigger picture.

The government is certainly continuing with their spiel about giving back to hard working people. I mean, obviously those who have more money work harder, right? Corporation tax is set to be cut because those poor huge businesses need that money so desperately. The threshold for inheritance tax has risen which is great if your mummy and daddy are planning to leave you their half a million pound house.

They want people to think that they are not favouring the rich over the poor. They do aim to save£5bn from tax avoidance after all. Tax avoidance is often a crime of the very wealthy. But, when it comes to welfare, the number increases to £12bn. The priorities here seem a bit off to me. It is estimated that there is way over £12bn in unpaid and avoided tax yet the government are choosing to cut money for those who really need it instead of telling their buddies to pay up. Quite frankly, it is a joke.

If you are disabled, mentally ill, and unable to work for any number of reasons then you will be affected in a bad way. The threshold for tax credits, for example, is set to drop meaning less people will be eligible to claim and if they do, they can only receive it for their first two children. There are families who rely heavily on money like this. Single parent families, parents with mental illnesses or any other disability that means they are unable to work for their income.

There are plans to reduce the benefits cap to £20,000 per year outside of London. Now, this might sound like enough money to live on. But when you factor in children, bills and numerous other expenses, this money will go pretty quickly.

Again, hitting those who cannot work, ESA is set to be reduced to the level of JSA. If someone has never been able to work, they might have no savings. Whereas, someone claiming JSA with the ability to work might have money put aside for periods of unemployment. Do you see where I’m going here? The government is essentially shitting on disabled/mentally ill people.

After the increase in tuition fees from the coalition, young people might have hoped to get through this budget relatively safe. No. Higher maintenance grants for poorer students? Fantastic! But, now they won’t be grants, they will be loans which you will be expected to pay back. Personally, I would have been unable to go to university if this was the situation when I applied a few years ago. Plus, 18-21 year olds could lose out on housing benefit entitlement. So many people come out of education and rely on housing benefit to keep a roof over their head whilst they look for work. The government doesn’t seem to like this which could easily lead to increasing numbers of homeless young people.

The government plan to increase the national living wage. In theory, this sounds like a great idea. But, think about it a bit more and cracks appear. If you’re under 25 then this will not apply to you so young people are being screwed over again. If you run a small business then you might struggle to increase wages and have to lose staff leading to increasing unemployment. Who will this benefit then? Why, surprise, the big business that the government is so fond of will be happy! They can afford to pay staff more, they currently choose not to. It will probably be nothing to them and they can continue with making lots of profit.

Whether or not this budget is going to be detrimental to you, please do not be fooled into thinking that this government cares about its people. This budget just highlights the unfair and widening inequality that is present throughout society. Surely you can’t be okay with that?

Dangers of Austerity

According to Wikipedia austerity is the policy of reducing government budget deficits. Austerity policies may include spending cuts, tax increases, or a mixture of both.

Recently, thousands of people took to the streets in protests against austerity. I’ve heard a lot of people asking why. If you are a person who will only care when a situation directly affects you then you may well not give a damn about austerity. However, for less selfish people, austerity is increasing inequality and plunging families into poverty.

In July, the government is expected to set out a plan which will see huge amounts of money cut from welfare. The conservatives are claiming that huge cuts in spending are the only way to reduce the deficit and get the country back on track. Austerity benefits the rich in society.

Where are the cuts going to happen?

Housing

There have been plans to stop housing benefit for theunder 25s. This means that if you graduate university and are yet to secure a job, you will probably have to move back home with your parents are relinquish the independence you love. Housing benefit has enabled several people I know to stay in their university towns, live with friends and remain independent whilst looking for a job.

Remember the case of the woman who committed suicide because of the bedroom tax? It seems likely that the welfare cuts could lead to many more cases like this. There is already huge strain on the mental health services. With people having increasing financial worries, the strain could increase further.

My mother is on benefits. She cannot work for various reasons. The bedroom tax is yet to be scrapped in her area. She gets £70 per week to live off. From this, she pays for gas, electricity and food. But before this, the council takes £20 because she has a spare room. That leaves her £50 per week to live off. Could you live off that? Do not even get me started on the fact that her local council messed up her housing benefit and are holding her responsible for a £1400 overpayment. My mother is stressed, fearing that she will be evicted and unable to feed herself some days. The help for her is not out there and there are so many people around the country in situations like this. It is, quite frankly, disgusting.

Councils are under increasing pressure to move all housing to the private sectors. Many local councils have already had their housing put under private housing associations. This often leads to increasing rents. Once again, the rich go untouched and the working class are faced with more problems. There needs to be more control over the increasing rents that private landlords are charging. Homelessness is at an all-time high and the government does not seem to care. The use of food banks has dramatically increased. People cannot even afford to put food on their tables because of austerity. If that doesn’t make you angry then I do not know what will.

Benefits

Please do not believe what the media is saying about people on benefits. Not everyone on benefits is lazy and just making up excuses to avoid working. Benefit fraud is much less common than tax evasion. But the government continues to try and shame people who live off benefits; they continue to paint a picture of those in receipt of benefits as lazy junkies. It is not true. Do you know how complicated the process has become to be allowed benefits? A few years ago, it was probably fairly straight forward to falsely claim benefits. Now, it’s pretty much impossible. There are crazy amounts of forms required, GP evidence and face to face assessments. Available here are the government statistics re: benefit fraud.

Atos healthcare is in charge of the assessments for PIP (Personal Independence Payment) for people with disabilities. MPs have recently called for data to be released about how many people have died following being told they are fit to work (see here). There have been so many stories about severely disabled people being told they are fit to work after their Atos assessment. Thankfully, this decision is often overturned by DWP. But, the stress this puts on vulnerable people is completely unnecessary and so damaging. Something here needs to urgently change.

Why would the government do this?

Surely the government is only making these cuts because it is absolutely necessary? You’d like to think so but it just is not true, there are available alternatives. For one, the richest 10% of people in the country owe billions in tax. The payment of said tax has been evaded, avoided and sometimes just left unpaid. Whether you look at figures from HMRC or elsewhere, there is still a huge amount of tax remaining unpaid. Figures from Tax Research UK and the government are available to view online.

The government could focus on getting this paid by putting laws in place to stop tax evasion. Instead, they are choosing to focus on cutting welfare costs. Why? Political parties have backing from a lot of big corporations and they look to benefit their supporters who are willing to place a lot of money into the party. Simply put, the government is corrupt and this is not a democracy like we are led to believe.

The elite have one goal: profit. That is why so many big business export goods and labour from abroad. They can get cheaper labour and lower taxes meaning more profit. These companies are taking jobs from people in Britain because they know they can pay people less if they send the work overseas. Having to pay less tax is just another bonus they look for.

In recent years, the amount of people going into unpaid work has grown. We are told that to get a job we need experience. To get experience, we need experience. In come the companies who say ‘hey come and work for us, the experience will be so useful but we won’t be paying you.’ People are desperate to get jobs so they work for free. In huge businesses that make millions, unpaid internships are exploitation. They can afford to pay you for a few weeks but they know that someone will do it for free so they’ll stick with that. There are people who are pushed to work part time or on zero hour contracts which can barely pay the bills. But as long as the elite remain untouched then the government turns a blind eye.

Essentially, inequality benefits the government. The increasing divide between the rich and the poor is being exacerbated by austerity. The demonization of people on benefits helps the government get away with welfare cuts. The constant talk of wanting to help ‘hard working families’ enforces the idea that only people capable of working hard deserve to be supported. That leaves a lot of disabled people or people caring for relatives with no help from the state.

"Austerity does not hurt me"

Maybe you think that you do work hard so deserve more than those who do not. Yet some people cannot work for various reasons. Do they deserve to be left in poverty to die? Maybe you think that you earn a lot of money because you have worked hard for it? So those people who work long shifts at multiple jobs are not working hard? Contrary to what this government wants you to believe, ability to work hard in a specific area does not entitle you to have a better quality of life than anyone else. Providing benefits to those who need them should not be viewed as a burden on the economy, rather a step towards a more equal society.

There are so many ways in which the government can save money that will not see the deaths of people, increased homelessness and poverty. There are alternatives to austerity that the government continue to ignore because they would lose the support of all those that austerity benefits.

Do not believe that there is no other way. Remember that the government benefits off your prejudices towards those in receipt of benefits. Remember that one day, you might lose everything or someone you love might. If you were suddenly disabled and unable to work, how would you feel about the measures that the government is taking? The dangers of austerity are real; the government is literally causing death to people in Britain because of money.

You can find out more about all of this (in a much more articulate way) at www.thepeoplesassembly.org.uk

GE 2015: we have every right to be angry!

Over a week ago, the general election results came in and showed that the Conservative party would be in power for the next 5 years. It has taken me some time to get over initial rage/despair and be able to articulate my feelings about this and what it means for Britain. There are a lot of people who seem confused at the anger being shown. A common saying has been ‘the people who are upset should have voted.’ Well, we did vote and that is exactly why we are angry.

Britain is supposed to be a democracy. We have the right to vote and that is wonderful however, our votes are not used in a fair system:

This essentially shows that the proportions of voters do not match up to the representation of parties in parliament. So conservatives get 37% of the votes but 51% of the seats in parliament. This diagram shows exactly what is wrong with the voting system we have.

It is known as ‘First Past the Post’. Yet another political term which very few people understand, it’s almost as though they don’t want us to understand. Anyway, FPTP means that whichever party get the most votes wins the election. This leads to elections being a competition between two parties, Labour and Conservative in the UK.  

The current system often results in tactical voting which a lot of people will own up to. This is voting for a party to make sure another party does not get into power i.e. voting Labour to avoid a Conservative government. So there is something wrong here, isn’t there? People are not voting for the policies they agree with, they are simply voting against parties that they do not agree with because the system calls for this. 

This is where the talk about ‘wasted’ votes comes in, not wanting to vote for a smaller party because it will not make a difference. You’re probably right. In the current system, it will not make a difference so that is why people are calling for a complete change of the system. In the 2015 general election, it appears that more people voted for smaller parties and this took away votes from Labour leading to a Conservative victory.

It all just sounds a bit unjust, doesn’t it? Why should we continue with a system which benefits bigger parties but ignores smaller parties successes?

“This is how it works here, just deal with it.” I have heard this so many times in response to complaints about the UK voting system. And no, I will not just deal with it. I imagine that when women were fighting for the right to vote, they had similar responses. Do not let anyone make you think that change is not possible, that we will always be in an unfair system. This is what politicians and the media want you to think. It is much easier and nicer for everyone if we all sit back and accept the bullshit that they are forcing down our throats. Well, I would like to think that I would rather have a long and difficult process of making things better than sitting back and letting the country continue to decline.

So what are our options?

Proportional representation is one that many people are asking for. This would mean that a party which received 37% of the votes would then get 37% of the seats in parliament. Proportional representation seems like a good answer. It means that we would have a fairer system whereby parliament would more closely reflect the wishes of the voters. This system would be a lot more fair for smaller parties. Whatever your opinion on UKIP, for example, they received a lot of votes in this election and it is only right that they should therefore be represented in this proportion. The current system is only beneficial for the bigger parties. That is not okay!

The UK had an Alternative Vote referendum back in 2010. The voters rejected this way of voting which sees voters ranking candidates by preference. Again, people are pointing to this and saying “you had a chance to change it and nobody wanted it.” There was a chance to change it, yes. However, that was 5 years ago. There are now people eligible to vote who were not back then. There have been huge changes in the country and people’s lives. There are other options; it does not have to be AV. Having a complete overhaul of a political system takes a long time, a lot of work and one referendum 5 years ago cannot tell us that people do not want change now.

Why are people so fiercely anti-conservative?

A vote for the conservatives can be seen as a vote against women, the LGBTQ community, people of colour, anyone with a disability, the poor and the vulnerable. If you are rich, heterosexual, white British and have no disabilities then the conservative government probably will not damage your life much.

However, we live in a very diverse country. Here are some conservative policies which would have horrible consequences for so many members of the public:

•  Repeal of the Human Rights Act – this is to be replaced with a British bill of rights. There are several ways this could be done and we are waiting to see what the Tories go for. The impact will vary but overall, is set to be negative for Britain.
•  Welfare cuts - specifically £12bn worth of cuts. We are yet to find out where these will come from. You might not rely on welfare; you might think that those who do are just lazy. But, the majority of those on benefits need them to survive. The conservative government is fine for working people. Those who cannot due to mental illness, disabilities or any other reason are set to suffer a great deal in the next 5 years. This could lead to starving families, an increase in rates of depression/suicide and a whole lot of other problems. If you are wealthy then please think for a second. Is a reduction in your tax at the end of the 5 years really worth the suffering of millions who rely on our welfare system? (N.B. this is the austerity stuff you keep hearing about. Essentially, the government will be trying to better the economy by taking money from the poor and vulnerable.)

This all sounds awful, what can we do to change it?

Do not give up. Do not let anyone make you think that protests and petitions and campaigns are pointless and will never work. Yes, it will take time but change is inevitable. Stay passionate about changing things. Remember all the potential repercussions of conservative policies and a continuation of FPTP. Be as active in politics as you can. Show the politicians that they should be scared. They cannot stop the people from getting what they want/need/deserve – a fair and just system that represents the whole of society and not just the rich.

Check out facebook,twitter, tumblr, local groups and find ways to be active in politics.

(To those complaining about the protests based on one person spraying graffiti onto a war memorial – I understand that it is incredibly disrespectful. But, paint can be removed. The damage that this government and subsequent ones under FPTP cause could be irreparable.)  

There are more than two parties...

I am fairly interested in politics but I am so fed up with the run up to the general election. It seems to me that this election is about choosing the worst from a bad bunch rather than anyone talking about their policies. ‘Vote for us because we won’t fuck things up quite as much as them.’ Well that is all well and good, but what am I going to be voting for?

Let’s be honest, we all know that politicians make a lot of promises they cannot or will not keep during the election build up (see Lib Dems and tuition fees…) and that leaves a lot of people not even wanting to vote. It’s a case of why bother voting when very few of these policies will go ahead? So how are we supposed to decide who to vote for?

I have found the BBC policy guide to be really useful and simple to understand. You can find it here.

As it stands, it looks as though there will either be a Conservative or Labour government. This is leading to a lot of people considering voting for one of these parties purely because they do not want the other. Many of my friends who want to vote Green are planning on actually voting Labour to avoid the Conservatives winning.

While I completely understand the thinking behind this, consider what might happen if this was not the case. Who would you vote for if there were no statistics and polls flying around? Who would you really want leading our country for the next 4 years?

If people continue to see it as a two horse race and just choose between the two big parties then it will always be this way. Vote for the party that you really support rather than who is likely to beat the party you hate. If you support a smaller party then vote for them, give them the chance of getting bigger. There are more than two parties and as long as we keep failing to see this then there will only
really ever be two options.

Personally, I do not like the thought that in a so called ‘democracy’ we are led to believe that we only have two options – Labour or Conservative. That is not true. We have more options and we should remember that. So I urge you, in the general election, to vote for the party who you would want to win if we had no idea who really stood a chance. If people start voting this way and looking at all the choices then politics might actually slowly start to change in this country and become more representative.

I really believe that things would be different if people realised that voting for smaller parties is not a ‘wasted vote.’ It is encouraging those parties to keep going because there are people out there who share their values. It is showing the bigger parties that they might need to adjust their policies. Otherwise, they will keep doing what they have always done knowing that they will get votes because people have no hope of anything changing.

Politics in this country can change. It does not always have to be Labour or Conservative if you do not want it to be. Do not let the past define your vote. This vote is possibly the only chance you will get to voice your opinion and have it make an impact in the next four years. Use it wisely.

Do not let the political system in this country fool you into thinking that Labour and Conservatives are the only parties in this election.