should the government be ashamed

Found this though when I was looking for the working class report. This was produced in 2018, and one can only think in fact be absolutely certain, that things have got an enormous amount worse since then.

London (CNN) — Government austerity policies and the dismantling of the social safety net have entrenched poverty and inflicted unnecessary misery on the poorest people in the United Kingdom, a damning report by a UN human rights expert said Friday.
Philip Alston, the UN special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, described the situation – in the fifth richest country in the world – as “not just a disgrace, but a social calamity and an economic disaster, all rolled into one.”
Some 14 million people, a fifth of the population, live in poverty, his report said. Of those, 1.5 million are destitute, unable to afford basic essentials, it said, citing figures from the Institute for Fiscal Studies, Social Metrics Commission and Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
After years of progress, poverty is increasing again, the report said, with child poverty predicted to rise by 7% between 2015 and 2022. Meanwhile, homelessness has increased by 60% since 2010, when a Conservative-led coalition government came to power, and the use of food banks is on the rise.
Almost all studies have shown that the UK economy will be worse off after Brexit – or the country’s scheduled departure from the European Union (EU) in March 2019 – the news release said. More people will be driven into poverty by inflation, lower wages and rising prices unless the government takes action to shield those most vulnerable and replaces current EU funding for combating poverty, it added.
…………. nearly 4 million children in the UK were living in households that struggle to afford fruit, vegetables and other foods conducive to healthy living, according to research by the Food Foundation.

MaizieD

nanna8

You will probably end up with a system similar to ours. A lot of private hospitals and medical services alongside the public system. The private hospitals seem to do very well, thank you very much and are forever expanding but the public hospitals tend to lag behind. I don’t see that the standard of medical care is any different but there are huge waiting lists for public hospitals whereas you can get into a private hospital quite quickly.

I don't think we want a system similar to yours, thank you. We would just like ours to be sorted properly.

Good luck with that! I also notice that some of the British private health providers are moving here- BUPA being one. They are not the best and don’t have a very good reputation for standards of care.
Hang on to your current system if you can. Strike, rebel, go on marches to preserve it, it is worth it, believe me. Don’t let them undermine the NHS so people turn to the private system- I can see that happening.

Having nearly lost my home in 1984 due to Tory policies of "destroy all working class industry and replace with money laundering activities based in London" and again in 1999 losing a huge £17k on a terrace house bought a mere 4 years earlier in Lancashire whilst south east houses rocketted in to space in value, then seeing the heartbreaking demise of young people not being able to afford to start their lives by having own home/safe tenancy, I Know that tories' goals are to create their idea of an 'elite' society of soft pale skinned robotniks existing only to produce money that ultimately finances the very very few elitists in their perverse lives of debauchery and Botox...... Oops bit Hollywood there! But still ,they detest those who actually keep the show on the road. Maybe demos and uncollected rubbish and medical waste should be tipped into their west end designer gardens( with plastic water features!) And left to fester? .....sad thing is they'll just employ some desperate folks to clear up , cash I. Hand of course! Don't want to be liable for any safety issues or tax/ni contribs now do we? Keep it under the radar and out of site , then we can happily pretend it don't exist?! Win win!

Gabrielle56 I assume that you do not know any Conservatives or Business Owners as your post is a biased caricature of the U.K.

As for money laundering activities based in London that is just a slur on hardworking Londoners…

Sadly some members of the present government feel no shame at all. Just check out a card which Priti Patel has sent out for Christmas. I didn’t believe it was for real but seems it is.
Sorry can’t link on iPad.

Sorry it’s on Twitter.

What are pale soft skinned robotniks? Sunak doesn’t appear like that and neither do many others. He looks to be on the dark side to me. Prince of Darkness ?

nanna8

MaizieD

nanna8

You will probably end up with a system similar to ours. A lot of private hospitals and medical services alongside the public system. The private hospitals seem to do very well, thank you very much and are forever expanding but the public hospitals tend to lag behind. I don’t see that the standard of medical care is any different but there are huge waiting lists for public hospitals whereas you can get into a private hospital quite quickly.

I don't think we want a system similar to yours, thank you. We would just like ours to be sorted properly.

Good luck with that! I also notice that some of the British private health providers are moving here- BUPA being one. They are not the best and don’t have a very good reputation for standards of care.
Hang on to your current system if you can. Strike, rebel, go on marches to preserve it, it is worth it, believe me. Don’t let them undermine the NHS so people turn to the private system- I can see that happening.

Hang on to your current system if you can. Strike, rebel, go on marches to preserve it, it is worth it, believe me. Don’t let them undermine the NHS so people turn to the private system- I can see that happening.

There appears to be a swathe of the British public already having fallen for the Tory narrative regarding the NHS. They won't rebel or go on marches - no, they will condemn the striking NHS workers for being "greedy", tell us "the country can't afford it" or, as some are saying, "get another job then" and there are even those who don't think NHS workers deserve a pay rise.

Why is the NHS in such a desperate state? Why are there not sufficient numbers of care homes, rehabilitation units, care workers? The Tories have been in government for 12 years during which time all these issues have been kicked into the long grass. They know we have an ageing population, they know what the problems are - what have they actually done to alleviate the distress caused to patients who can't be discharged because there is nowhere for them to go, and not sufficient numbers of care workers to support them. Why? because it's a stressful job with poor pay. Privatisation of these social / care services was the worst thing that could have happened. I won't be convinced otherwise.

The current Tory mob simply do not care - they are not in government to make life better for the population, they are in the business to make life better for themselves and their various backers and donors at the expense of the population who, themselves, will - some of them - still vote this government back into power, even whilst they are languishing in a hospital bed waiting for a 'care package'.

Farzanah

Sadly some members of the present government feel no shame at all. Just check out a card which Priti Patel has sent out for Christmas. I didn’t believe it was for real but seems it is.
Sorry can’t link on iPad.

Patel's Christmas card.

static.independent.co.uk/2022/12/20/18/patel-xmas-card.jpg?quality=75&width=1368&auto=webp

Battersea1971

We read a lot about how poorly paid they are,but never hear how much they actually get. These people are all graded and dont all earn the same amount. The experienced ambulance drivers and paramedics earn more than the others, which is right. Also a number of nurses work in their spare times for agencies which cost the NHS more.

Sounds as though you don’t believe how much take home pay has dropped during the 10 years of austerity.
As for criticising nurses working in agencies ‘in their spare time” so costing the nhs more. Why and how do you think this happens

The government is deliberately wrecking all public services. It’s their ideology, private good, public bad. Simple

I can’t cut and paste in my iPhone but I agree 100% with what Iam64 said at 12.54pm. To answer the OP, yes this government should be ashamed but over so many issues …. They won’t be.

Thank you volver.
Completely heartless and lacking any compassion.

volver

Farzanah

Sadly some members of the present government feel no shame at all. Just check out a card which Priti Patel has sent out for Christmas. I didn’t believe it was for real but seems it is.
Sorry can’t link on iPad.

Patel's Christmas card.

static.independent.co.uk/2022/12/20/18/patel-xmas-card.jpg?quality=75&width=1368&auto=webp

I wondered if it was a spoof, but apparently not. Disgusting, uncaring and just shows how blatantly the government show contempt for people.

Disgusting Christmas card.

I spent 11 hours in various ambulances last Sunday until they finally got me in the hospital. I DO NOT blame the ambulance service or the nursing staff and can very well understand them wanting more pay as they try to do two jobs at once when being overtired, because much more nursing staff are needed.
I am 92 years old and can honestly say that I have never seen this country in such a bxxxs.
It wasn't even as bad when WW2 started and it was bad enough then.

Wish you a speedy recovery Maywalk. Don’t think many MPs will suffer the pain, stress and indignity of waiting in an ambulance for 11 hours.
Can you imagine Sunak doing so?

volver

Calendargirl

Sounds like we had better hunker down in bed all day tomorrow, and not risk doing anything!

Or, move to Scotland. But don't plan on coming by train.

Moving to Scotland would be tge worst thing you could do. We are in the very same striking situation as tge rest of the UK and the Scottish Gov. The SNP are far worse that the the despicable Tories.
Scotland is run by a bunch of dictators.

Scotland is run by a bunch of dictators.

Best vote them out at the next election then. But if they are dictators there wouldn't be elections....

Oh, I'm so confused..😢

I’d seen the Patel Christmas card and thought it was a spoof. Can she sink any lower

Maywalk, hope you’re soon feeling better

Iam64

nadateturbe, the strike isn’t only about pay though I’d support if it was. Paramedics, nurses and doctors are all saying current practices, staff shortages etc are putting lives as risk. The government refuses to listen. They’ve had 11 years of dismantling public services including the nhs. They’re responsible for lives at risk

Exactly . So many blinkered people saying it’s all about money. It’s conditions too. For example how utterly scandalous is it that nurses have to pay to park at the hospital?

I feel that the rail and the postal workers risk shooting themselves in the foot. There are alternatives to the services they provide and people will just start to use them leading to redundancies in future. Not so easy for the NHS workers to be replaced though. Private health care is very expensive but seems to be booming. Risk here is that the private providers could cream off the best or most ambitious NHS staff this making things even worse. Oh dear. There may be trouble ahead - oops it's already here!

Also I just heard that with the army and navy on passport control there are no queues. Not doing much for the credibility of the usual staff. Strikers beware of undermining themselves.

Aveline

Also I just heard that with the army and navy on passport control there are no queues. Not doing much for the credibility of the usual staff. Strikers beware of undermining themselves.

I wouldn't be in the least surprised to find that there are more passport control points open when manned (personed?) by the forces then there are when manned by the normal staff.

It's very effective in dividing opinion, isn't it?

I don't know what my opinion is though! I can see too many different angles. Glad I'm not a politician.