LABOUR’S AUSTERITY BUDGET: OUR RESPONSE

Other than repeated claims to be ‘on the side of working people’ Rachel Reeve’s Spring Budget statement sounded more like a Conservative chancellor’s speech than a Labour Party committed to ‘ending the status quo’. 

From the outset the statement was framed in the context of an unstable and uncertain world (hardly a new situation), and a Europe destabilised by the Putin regime’s invasion of Ukraine. This was the only actual example of the causes of that global uncertainty given, and Russia is framed as the bogeyman of the moment  – the scapegoat upon which to blame our ‘uncertain’ times – that and the ‘parties opposite’. 

Rachel Reeves made much of fiscal responsibility and slashing levels of borrowing. For a government that has inherited a welfare state in chaos and an NHS in a constant state of crisis this was not a declaration of intent to take all steps necessary to end the suffering.   She also made it clear that there were to be no tax increases, which presumably rules out the ‘wealth tax’ of 2% on assets over £10 million called for by backbench MPs like Richard Burgon, a tax which would raise £24 billion per year.  

In the context of the Government’s plan to cut disability benefits by at least £5bn, hitting some of the most deprived people in the country hardest and undoubtedly costing lives, the priorities of the Labour cabinet couldn’t be more stark.

Disabled activists and hundreds of concerned members of the public join protests in Westminster on Wednesday 26th while the Rachel Reeve’s gave her spring budget statement.

There was some good news in a small rise in Universal Credit allowances up £106 per week and a plan to build 1.5 million new homes. However, the former won’t do anything like enough to lift people out of poverty and nor was there a serious commitment to create affordable housing or regulate the housing market to provide cheaper housing options. Neither did Reeves make any commitment to the building of more council housing – which is sorely needed to tackle the housing crisis.

There was very little hope on the NHS-wide crisis except a commitment to improve NHS efficiency and repeated claims to have reduced waiting lists, as if the small and inadequate progress here was the only performance indicator that matters, while 14,000 are dying annually from delayed emergency care. Waiting lists are good for headlines but they are not the whole story.

There are other markers of success which are just as important such as ambulance response times, waiting times in A&E, 12 hour trolley waits, deaths from delays in A&E, delayed discharge of patients fit to go home, impact on reducing health inequalities, and so on. The number of those waiting for  appointments has gone down marginally to 7.2m last month (down 200k since July). Latest figures show the numbers of individuals waiting for assessment or treatment (at 6.3m) has not gone down at all this last month. Meanwhile the government is ignoring the crisis in acute care with avoidable deaths,  mental health services overwhelmed, GP, maternity and dental services failing.

Keep Our NHS Public joins the demonstration against the ‘austerity’ budget, disability cuts and increasing NHS privatisation.

In stark contrast, we have a commitment to the “biggest increase in defence spending since the end of the cold war” with £2.2bn promised, bringing it up to a huge 2.5% of GDP. Their ambition is to make Britain, in their own words, a “defence industrial super power”. This investment in Britain’s war machine diverts money that could be used for making people’s lives better by rebuilding public services and addressing health inequalities. Many (including KONP) would have expected a Labour government to be investing in restoring the welfare state, lifting the most in need out of poverty and creating a less ‘uncertain’, safer and more compassionate world. It is clear that this Labour government has no intention of delivering those things. 

The truth is the Government’s own impact statement of their planned benefits cuts will mean that by 2030, 250,000 more people, including 50,000 children, will be pushed into relative poverty and cost lives. This is on top of 14 million people already living in poverty and the widening gap between rich and poor (in the UK, the richest 50 families have more wealth than the entire bottom half of the population).  This is a huge issue for all of those committed to rebuilding and restoring our NHS.

These cuts will deepen the crisis and put even more pressure on already struggling services. It is also the exact opposite of everything the NHS stands for – a fairer, more compassionate society where the health and well being of all is paramount. To usher in once again a period of austerity is a choice made by the Government. It represents in fact a public health crisis rather than being  a matter of economic necessity.

Rachel Reeve’s ‘austerity budget’ is not what voters were hoping for when they voted to end the status quo of 14 years of the Conservatives. This government’s attacks on disabled people, the NHS and public services will not go unopposed.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

Keep Our NHS Public is committed to the campaign for a publicly funded, provided, and accountable NHS. Our sister organisation, End Social Care Disgrace calls for a national care, support and independent living service. This is why we organised a rally outside Conway Hall on Tuesday, where inside Wes Streeting appeared in conversation with Guardian editor Pippa Cerrar. 

It is also why we joined the DPAC and Stop the War march from Downing Street to Parliament on Wednesday as Reeves announced her Spring budget. The thousand-strong protest was joined by trade unions, community groups, health campaigns and more.

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