My Title is a mix of two left wing newspapers response to George Osborne's announcement of Austerity imposed on the working people in 2010.
A crippling downturn for the economy, austerity in the UK began in 2010 under the Tory and LibDem coalition government, a response to the 2008 financial crisis. Austerity measures were imposed as a way of eliminating the budget deficit. The effects of austerity in the UK have led to increased levels of poverty and unemployment. 12 years of a Conservative government, British working people still face the impacts today.
The New York Times described Austerity as "a campaign of budget cutting that Britain’s Conservative-led Coalition government began in 2010 in the aftermath of the global financial panic of 2008, the most crippling economic downturn since the Great Depression."
Some argue that Austerity was the right solution, others like to refer to it as a pragmatic decision. Either way, It is now clear that the decision left the British economy in ruin. But, why was it seen as a solution to economic crisis in the eyes of the Tories? It can be argued that a rapidly rising public debt is dangerous and that if a country’s public debt is excessive, its economic performance suffers. So it is necessary to stop the public debt rising inexorably and to put it on a downward path.
The longer one delays implementing necessary austerity, the more painful the cuts will be when they come. So the fiscal problems the UK faced in 2010 meant that some measure of austerity was necessary.
It is clear that Austerity would come under tons of criticism most notably from left wing activists and newspapers. The article from the Guardian titled Budget 2010: Pain now, more pain later in austerity plan The Guardian criticises George Osbornes plan and says it "terrorises the lives of working people" and "Seduces them to poverty".
It was obvious that Austerity killed the lives of the less fortunate. Austerity Increased taxes and demolished the lives of working people. Those who could not uphold themselves during this time had to rely on hostels and food banks, most of those also of worse due to Austerity. Austerity left Public services such as food banks and hostels with marginal budget cuts. This left the starving for funding and had to turn to donations to help fund their services.
Austerity has clearly had a significant impact on the shameful rise of homelessness in the UK and the British Medical Journal concluded this very point too, despite Austerity architect George Osborne disputing this. It has only helped to push more people into poverty and out of society. Austerity mad the poor get poorer! One in 5 people live below the poverty line as a result of Austerity. Family's face daily hardship and struggles as a result of Austerity. The rise in poverty is nether the less shameful, a failure of 12 years of tory control still fails to recover from the drastic rise in poverty since 2010.
In the movie I, Daniel Blake, Dan is referred to the employment and support allowance were he is quickly disregarded to to only having obtained 12 points whilst needing 15. This was determined by an American ran private company hired by the government and known as health care professionals. This was a real issue in Britain at the time. like the movie shows, people like dan and to turn to a job seekers allowance. This meant he had to look for work although he was not yet able to work due to a recent heart attack.
public institutions suffered as a result of austerity. One of the places that suffered the most was food banks. In the movie food banks are shown as struggling, with a lack of basic amenities such as wipes.
People also suffered as a result of this, in the foodbank scene, Katie is forced to eat a tin of beans as she sees them due to her prolonged hunger. It was reality in 2010 that you could either chose to feed yourself or your kids, and the movie is representative of this by showing the true problems that British people faced daily.
Amides the climax of the movie, Dan leave the job centre claiming he cannot be helped no more and that the system in place does not provide for people like him, He then proceeds to take a spray paint can and vandalise the wall with a message about the issues, to where he is promptly arrested and let go on caution. However, this shows how institutions such as the job centre had to deal with the true force of austerity and the effects that it had on the people of Britain.
In this video Ken Loach goes head to head with Kwarteng to challenge the conservative ideas to where Kwarteng dismissed the movie saying he had never watch the film. Kwarteng comes across as shockingly uncaring and out of touch in this video. Throw the 'champagne socialist' label at Loach all you want, but he's a brilliant artist with a deep sense of empathy who is at least willing to speak up for working people. It shows the frightening views the Tories still have on austerity.
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