Looking Back On 14 Years Of Austerity - For What?

Spot on flappergirl.

Brilliant comment s , most of our services ie NHS Education Police are subcontracted out to private companies, there doesn’t seem to be any checks and balances, hence the amount of billionaires have increased exponentially, many on taxpayers money, It’s so interesting that it’s the middle and working classes that are being stretched to the limits,

Agreed

Well said Mae13 and FlapperGirl
I don't want a violent revolution but just about every institution and organisation, NHS, Education, politics, the energy companies, the transport system, the post office (have I missed anything?) is broken and needs a complete overhaul, a re-think, rubbing out and starting again.

Milest0ne

Doodledog

flappergirl

The Tories have ensured that the generation coming through will have no teeth by the time they are 40, no homes to call their own, soul destroying zero contract jobs and terrifying hospital waiting lists.

They will have no free movement in Europe and should they wish to start a small business trading with Europe they will suffer extra costs and red tape which will negate the whole point. The Tories have not been caretakers of the country's future on any level.

This is in contrast to the inherited wealth and privilege (George Osborne, Jacob Rees Mogg, David Cameron for example) that many of them enjoy, safe in the knowledge that their children and grandchildren will live life with impunity at the very top of society.

They should hang their heads in shame.

Excellent post.

Not a lot to be said for "Etonomics"

There may not be a lot to be said for Etonomics but most of the posters on here are clinging tightly to the economic theory that inspired it.

Doodledog

flappergirl

The Tories have ensured that the generation coming through will have no teeth by the time they are 40, no homes to call their own, soul destroying zero contract jobs and terrifying hospital waiting lists.

They will have no free movement in Europe and should they wish to start a small business trading with Europe they will suffer extra costs and red tape which will negate the whole point. The Tories have not been caretakers of the country's future on any level.

This is in contrast to the inherited wealth and privilege (George Osborne, Jacob Rees Mogg, David Cameron for example) that many of them enjoy, safe in the knowledge that their children and grandchildren will live life with impunity at the very top of society.

They should hang their heads in shame.

Excellent post.

Not a lot to be said for "Etonomics"

Pammond

Think you will find that all parties are to blame for the decline n the NHS not just the Tories. It has been mismanaged for decades.

I think you will find that on most metrics your statement that all parties are to blame is incorrect. Compare the state of the NHS 2010 with the state of it 14 years later.

Jess20

Austerity was based on very badly analysed research. Try Hannah Fry, The Devils in the Detail e10. It's a BBC podcast which is quite shocking and shows that politicians didn't have the in-depth knowledge to critique the research that they used as evidence for a policy which has destroyed lives. It's seriously worth listening to on BBC sounds, I find it very upsetting that there is NO good evidence that austerity actually works, it's based on data which was deeply flawed and not properly analysed.

Thanks for that, Jess20

I have known about the Reinhart & Rogoff error for some time and what I find breathtaking is the fact that they refuse to acknowledge that their error is a major one. Missing 5 countries off their calculations and using a complete outlier to pull the averages down seems pretty major to me.

I'm going to contribute another link from BBC sounds that people should find interesting. Economist Mariana Mazzucato interviewed by Nick Robinson. Her particular field is that of state investment. (Warning, she talks very fast😆 )

www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001wr1r

Mt thoughts, mums the word, is that you have a distorted, negative view of our country. We have far more good citizens than those who, for a variety of reasons have a ‘sense of entitlement’. I include tax dodgers in that group

Think you will find that all parties are to blame for the decline n the NHS not just the Tories. It has been mismanaged for decades.

The trouble with the NHS is now too many chiefs and not enough qualified staff. My daughter is a radiographer and is constantly working too many hours not all of which she gets paid for other than time off in lieu. Which she then struggles to take off, after 4 years at university and 5 years on the front line she looking to leave and do something else. I will support her decision all the way as I can see she’s burnt out

Austerity was based on very badly analysed research. Try Hannah Fry, The Devils in the Detail e10. It's a BBC podcast which is quite shocking and shows that politicians didn't have the in-depth knowledge to critique the research that they used as evidence for a policy which has destroyed lives. It's seriously worth listening to on BBC sounds, I find it very upsetting that there is NO good evidence that austerity actually works, it's based on data which was deeply flawed and not properly analysed.

After reading lots of posts I am sad it’s come to this in the U.K. So many posts are totally true but feel very lucky not to have major health issues at present only osteoarthritis in my knees and same for my husband We try hard to spend manage carefully on our pensions we have and enjoy life to the full helping out our children and grandchildren where and when we can whilst we are here on this planet
Sadly not so many are lucky like we are
I hate reading about the lazy entitled people of today so many don’t want to work or contribute to U.K. taxes just complain and try to find ways to claim etc etc So many are having children they can’t afford to support and ask for help from any source they can Food Banks council housing social housing You can’t have children if you can’t afford to look after them but that’s not the case these days is it Soneine tell me I have it wrong I live in a flat paid for by our hard work we don’t owe anyone anything but now they have built many blocks of flats in our town all for social housing and so many are trashed and uncared for inside and out They have so many on the housing lists they have to try and house families but high rise flats are not the answer !!! Houses with gardens for families who will care about these places that the council provide All to sad as I said at the beginning??? Any thoughts anyone !!!

The pandemic masked the devastating effect of Brexit. Enabling Johnson and his team of incompetents to kick it into the long grass. Now the original architect of Brexit has been made a Lord and is in charge of our foreign policy. Many of the farming lobby, having been heavily subsidised by the EU for decades, voted for Brexit. Now they're striking because they can't make a living. You couldn't make it up could you!

NotSpagetti Absolutely NHS for everyone.

It is society that has played a large part in the state of the NHS as it is today because of the demands placed upon it.
Science has progressed and there is so much more the NHS can provide than in its inception
There are too many managers earning very high salaries one who was employed and played a large part in the post office scandal .
As a society the demands we put on it far exceed what is possible there are many very simple ways of improving the service . No one party is responsible for the problem they must all take responsibility and work together for the good of the NHS and the country but every party and politician seems unable to do this .It is easier to say well they did this the ---- fault is with the other party

JaneJudge

They haven’t delivered the plan that austerity was going to produce

They haven't delivered the plan because the 'plan' was never going to work.

The 'plan' was to depend on private enterprise to create 'growth'.

How does private enterprise create 'growth'?

It creates it by selling more of its goods and services.

Who does it sell to?

It sells to consumers and it sells to the public sector (because the public sector doesn't produce any of the goods and services it needs to function)

So this 'growth' depends on consumers and the public sector having money to buy those goods and services.

What did 'austerity' do?

'Austerity' cut public spending, froze public sector wages or cut public sector jobs altogether, it froze or cut welfare payments. It removed sources of private sector profits and caused many businesses to get rid of staff because they were no longer making enough money to be able to pay their wages and no longer needed them because the work which earned the money for paying staff was no longer available.

If you cut wages, cut jobs and remove a significant source of private sector profits what result do you expect?
How can you expect the private sector to 'grow' if there is less money around for it to earn?

And how could the private sector be expected to invest in new businesses or 'growing' existing businesses if it can't see any prospect of making a profit?

I am tired of hearing that the private sector creates wealth. It doesn't, it hoovers up money from the consumers of its goods and services. If it has no-one to hoover money up from it goes bust...

The thing about “wealth” is that it is all relative! I live in the SE, in a very modest 4 bed Victorian terrace valued at around £450,000 in todays market. We are comfortable, not wealthy, however compared to some of peers, who have much lower standard of living we seem “wealthy” to them. Most of my friends are “more comfortably” off than us and have nice, bigger houses and newer cars. We are all relatively happy and it would always be nice to have a bit more money. I would happily pay 1p in the £ more in taxes if it meant my school teacher daughter and goddaughter nurse could be better paid and have half a chance of getting in the property ladder. Our 38 year old son is only just buying his first house in Bristol. I dearly hope we have a shift in govt if Sunak ever announces a GE date.

I have absolutely no issue at all with inherited wealth, my dear parents worked hard, my dad was a higher lever tax payer for much of his later working life, he paid tax on his income, he then paid tax in his savings, and any investments. I also think that people making money should have the choice of paying for healthcare and education, but this shouldn’t be because the public healthcare and education systems are failing, but because they choose to do this.

This country is a mess and I pity our younger generation!

It was Osborne and the Tory-Lib Dem coalition which began the wrecking of the public sector which has continued since 2014 - cuts to local authority budgets, underfunding the NHS, little social housing being built, the Truss budget disaster and mortgage rises, cuts to youth services and more. I've had enough of the Tories (and I still worry the Lib Dems would prop them up again).

What have people got against poor old Auntie Flo? .

Seriously, the trouble with rules that centre on relationships is that people don't conform to them. As an example, workplace rules about compassionate leave for bereavement often take no account of the fact that not everyone is brought up by their biological parents, and if someone in that position loses a grandparent (or Auntie Flo), or a second cousin who did bring them up they will feel as bad as someone losing a parent. Worse in some cases. The same would apply to inheritance - the relationship is not always indicative of the reality.

Iam64

I was thinking more of auntie flo

Definitely.

Would you also remove the relief given for charitable legacies? I did have that in mind actually. So, personally yes. But I've no doubt my reasons are biased.

I was thinking more of auntie flo

What about those who are childless? Maybe not by choice. Maybe their children have predeceased them.

Would you also remove the relief given for charitable legacies?

There’s a thought Joseanne