Billy Jones, Gloucestershire Socialist Party
The UK is the sixth-richest country in the world, and yet one in five people living here are suffering from poverty, a recent report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation shows.
This poverty rate has been stagnant since the 2008 financial crash, proving that almost two decades of austerity and cost-cutting have done nothing to raise the living standards of working-class people. In fact, the only real change is that the numbers of those suffering from ‘deep poverty’ and ‘destitution’ have risen.
The Labour government attempts to portray itself as tackling child poverty, including a plan to finally scrap the hated two-child benefit cap later this year (for the reality see ‘Child poverty – Labour worsens cost of living’ at socialistparty.org.uk). But while they pay lip services to this, they are mounting attacks on other vulnerable groups in society.
The upcoming Timms Review will measure the ‘sustainability’ of the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) scheme for disabled people. PIP is already infamously difficult to get onto, yet here is an attempt to make these very important benefits even harder to obtain.
Having a disability comes with increased costs, such as for specialised equipment needed to live independently, and often limits the number of hours you can work. Instead of facing this fact, the government is trying to pretend that disabled people don’t exist to excuse further cuts.
But the figures show that working-age adults with disabilities are twice as likely to be living in poverty, and those on benefits are three times as likely. So much for a life of luxury on the dole!
Instead of punishing vulnerable people who need help meeting their needs, we need a complete overhaul of the system. We need a benefits scheme that actually lifts people out of poverty, a real living wage that makes going to work worthwhile, and an end to cuts to important public services which establishment political parties have all pushed through.
