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The Austerity War and the impoverishment of disabled people

The Austerity War and the impoverishment of disabled people . Chris Edwards, 11 September 2012. The aim of these slides . To present in 10 slides and 10 minutes the effects of the Coalition Government’s Austerity Package on disabled people

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The Austerity War and the impoverishment of disabled people

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  1. The Austerity War and the impoverishment of disabled people Chris Edwards, 11 September 2012

  2. The aim of these slides • To present in 10 slides and 10 minutes the effects of the Coalition Government’s Austerity Package on disabled people • These slides are based on a report of 48 pages with 14 sections and 2 appendices – for the full report, see www.ncodp.org.net • A four page summary and list of contents is available

  3. The Austerity Package 2011-15 • The cuts analysed in the report consist of cuts in cash benefits (£18bn), increases in taxes (especially VAT) (£3 bn) and cuts in benefits-in-kind (£48 bn) (government expenditure on local government services, education, health, transport, etc). • These sum to £69 billion over the four years • The government has announced further cuts for 2015-16 and 2016-17 totalling £25 billion • No details of these further (post-2015) cuts have been announced, so my report analyses the cuts of £69 billion over the four years

  4. The cuts in disability benefits • Details are given in my report, but the cuts in cash benefits will total £9 billion over the four years to 2014-15; roughly a third of the total • On top of this, cuts are being made in support services especially through cuts in local government services • People with impairments should be richer than those without impairments to prevent them being disabled, yet disabled people are poorer than non-disabled • The cuts are increasing this relative poverty

  5. Losses to households receiving disability benefits • Just under 3 million households receive disability benefits (just over a tenth of all households in the UK) • The loss to these households over the four years will be 10% of their income • The loss to the poorest 500,000 of households receiving disability benefits will be 18%; this is four and a half times the 4% loss for the richest fifth of households • When Cameron/Osborne say that “we are all in this together” they are talking nonsense

  6. The double failure of the Austerity Package • It is bad enough that disabled people are suffering most from the cuts .. • … but the Austerity Package is not even achieving its objective, namely to reduce the budget deficit • The coalition’s deficit reduction targets are hopelessly off target and likely to remain so…. • …. net borrowing for 2011/12 to 2014/15 was forecast in June 2010 as £302 bn; then in November 2011 it was forecast as £426 bn; and …. • … public borrowing in May, June and July 2012 was higher than in the same months of 2011.

  7. This is the Madness of King and George • This is a time when government expenditure should be increased since….. • ….personal consumption, private investment and exports are stagnating. • Instead (as we have seen) government expenditure on goods and services is being cut

  8. The cuts are counter-productive • Just two examples; • An estimated 25,000 people will have to give up work when they lose DLA; if so, the Treasury will £90 million from the cut but it will lose £147 million in lost taxes (Guardian 24 August 2012); • The short-term cuts on support services will probably mean more expenditure on health (especially for the old) over the medium and long term.

  9. Is there an alternative? • Yes there is • The solution is to tax the rich and for the government to reverse the cuts in government expenditure • This alternative would both reduce the deficit and generate economic growth • It would generate growth because demand would be greater • At the margin, the consumption (in the UK) of the rich is small and the higher government expenditure would generate growth.

  10. Why is the solution not being adopted? • Because … the Coalition Government is a rich man’s government in two senses…. • In 2010, 23 of the 29 members of the government were millionaires • This government is serving the short-term interests of the very rich. • This is a limited democracy since most of the measures being taken were not in the manifesto of the Conservative Party - we need to force a U-turn and/or force them out

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