“ U.K. Austerity policy has inflicted great misery” says UN

I agree Beau. Each time we've had a Labour,spend spend spend to keep people on side government, there's been an unholy mess when the next government has stepped in to try and claw back wasted finances then end up being the bad guys .
What do we do when we overspend ? We do without certain things to recoup our loss.It's the same with the government but on a massive scale. Can't please everyone !
Lack of foresight with the immigration process has created further hardship no thanks to Labour who loathe anything to do with British heritage anyway.The last Labour government were determined to change the face of this country by handing out work permits visas and passports ( British ) like raffle tickets .

Is it any wonder that 70% of votes from migrants go to Labour ?

At the same time TM has done nothing to reverse this. When Amber Rudd was Home secretary she too did nothing to alleviate the constant influx which she must have known/realised that resources would have been stretched to the limits in all areas.

What have they ALL been doing ??

Hear, hear, GillT57

Sadly, though, 'belief' trumps evidence every time...

It is truly shameful that an ouside body should issue this report, and the shame falls firmly on the shoulders of the Conservative government from Osborne onwards. I am appalled by those on here who still cling to the myth of it all being the fault of the previous Labour administration, and as for those of you who are outraged that the UN should 'interfere' well, shame on you. This is how people like Trump with their claims of false news get away with it. I am not a supporter of Corbyn, but the majority of well regarded and respected economists repeat that austerity does not work.

I agree luckygirl. Nearly half our children living in poverty is tragic for those families involved, but is also storing up terrible problems for society in the future.
Family breakdown, long term debt, disruptive behaviour in schools, drug and alcohol addiction, anti-social behaviour, vandalism, knife crime, pressure on the criminal justice system and prisons are a likely future result of child poverty.

The whole of society will pay for this both in monetary cost but also in creating “no go” areas in villages, towns and cities across the country.

We all want to live in a peaceful society where we can walk safely through the streets and don’t have to barricade ourselves behind security gates and high walls.

Well baggs I read the report so would find it extremely helpful if you could point out all the trickery and dishonesty in it with page references linking the relevant sections in the report to the evidence of where it’s wrong so I can put myself right. It would also be helpful to know the qualifications and political background of the person/s who have so carefully analysed this report. TIA

Debt does matter (although not in the same way as a domestic budget) but if austerity was seen to be the cure and a necessity, the single-minded targeting of the already poor for this "cure" is sickening - the fat cats laugh all the way to the bank.

Our political leaders have no concept of what real poverty is and the long-term consequences of childhood deprivation. They live their cosseted lives whilst dictating to the poor of our nation how they should live, and implying that they are all work-shy scroungers.

Just the very idea that there are families having to rely on food banks is a total disgrace. And as for the rough sleepers.....

And this one is for you, EllanVannin:

The author, Paul Krugman, has a Nobel Prize for economics so I think he knows what he is talking about

www.theguardian.com/business/ng-interactive/2015/apr/29/the-austerity-delusion

Would you care to share with us what you have read, Baggs?

That's your opinion Ilovecheese, my opinion is the same as EllanVannin

It's not 'opinion'. beau, it's fact.

1) The Labour 'overspend' was myth

www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/ramesh-patel/finally-the-overspending-_b_7591088.html?utm_hp_ref=tw

2) Conservative governments have consistently borrowed more and repaid less that Labour governments over the past 70 years

www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2016/03/13/the-conservatives-have-been-the-biggest-borrowers-over-the-last-70-years/

I agree Beau it's a damned cheek. As you say balance and common sense is sadly lacking.

beau, I've read quite a few things since the UN report that show the trickery and dishonesty of it.

Was that political choice made because of a (political?) belief that a very high national debt was a bad thing for the nation and some effort should be made to reduce it, or was it made in order to allow the government to be nasty to poor people? The way some people talk you'd think it was the latter.

N.B. I don't understand national debt or why it matters if it's a massive percentage of GDP but I gather that it does matter.

* of it.

That's your opinion Ilovecheese, my opinion is the same as EllanVannin - in fact I think it's a damned cheek the UN reporting on our country and I don't believe most if it - they reported what they were told to report by the socialist / globalists. I want some balance back in the world, which as far as I'm concerned means about 40 years of right wing government to undo the damage of the last 40 years and get some common sense back into life.

No, ellanvannin austerity was not caused by overspending by Labour. The global financial crash was caused by unregulated banking systems. Austerity was a political choice.

The price of austerity was I'm afraid instigated by Labour and their overspending which they're very good at but in the end some other poor sod has to pick up the pieces and it's they who have to take the flak when pulling in the reins.

MaizieD what has Brexit got to do with this?

It's not so much Brexit as the seeming hypocrisy of Leave voters who constantly blame the EU for 'bullying' poor little Greece but who seem perfectly content to condone extreme hardship in the UK caused by exactly the same economic policy, austerity.

I don't see many (any?) Leave voters rushing to join this thread and condemn our government for allowing such an appalling state of affairs.

Sympathy for Greece but none for their own fellow citizens.

(Actually, Brexit is relevant. Many people voted Leave because they didn't think life in the UK could get much worse and leaving the EU might improve their lives. It won't, of course.)

MaizieD what has Brexit got to do with this? It’s the government that is at fault. I fail to see what the Leavers or Remainers have to do with it.

All I would say is that if voters got off of their backsides and went to the Polling Stations and voted maybe we wouldn’t be in this mess, we had an election and the Conservatives stayed in power.

It struck me last night that Leavers are constantly condemning the EU for the austerity programme that was inflicted on Greece but are strangely quiet about the equally damaging austerity programme enforced here in the UK by tory governments since 2010.

In fact, when one tries to suggest that the tory's economic policy is not only unnecessary but deeply damaging and callous, as evidenced, yet again, by the UN report, everyone seems to rally round to approve in the UK what they claim to be outraged by in Greece. Odd...

But to be fair it wouldn’t matter a damn who was at DWP because this Government does not care at all about these issues whatever hypocritical words emanate from the steps of No 10

It is indeed shocking and so short-sighted. We are brewing up serious long-term problems with this disgraceful level of child poverty. They will cost an arm and a leg to try and sort out when the time comes and the human cost is sickening.

I couldn't stand Esther McVey anyway. I'm not overly keen on Amber Rudd either. She messed up on her previous position I can't see her doing any better in the DWP.
They all live on a different planet to the public in general I'm afraid.

Well Amber Rudd at DWP fills me full of confidence. Still it will all be her officials faults won’t it?

Many voters of a certain flavour still see those on benefits as scroungers. Will this report influence them? Make them see things differently?

Shocking isn't it to have this reported on by the UN.
Yes, most of us are well aware of the problems but some Conservative MPs and their supporters are wilfully denying the truth.