So the Conservative Conference is over and what have we seen? A foretaste of the vicious cuts that will be inflicted on the country later this month. They had nothing to celebrate – their Election victory was a hollow one and for the country it is already proving harmful.
So what did they do? They announced the beginning of the dismantling of the welfare state and universal benefits starting, naturally if you’re a Conservative, with the weakest and most vulnerable in society – our children.
Yvette Cooper MP, Labour's Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, summed things up nicely when she said: “Instead of boosting jobs and growth, the government is making families with children pay more.
“We support child benefit for all children and all families. Of course there are difficult choices to make and we need more welfare reform, but it's better to get the economy growing faster and raise more tax from the banks than to cut support for children in middle income families.
"Whatever people's income, it is families with children who are paying most -- through cuts in child tax credit, maternity allowance, child benefit and housing benefit. So much for David Cameron's promise of the most family friendly government ever: instead they are hitting hard at families who want to get on."
The deficit is huge and needs to be tackled, there’s no denying that but it needs to be put into context. The recklessness of the banks put us on the verge of a full blown depression and the responsible actions of the Labour Government prevented us tipping over into the abyss. That left the country with major debts but the alternative (unless you’re David Cameron) was unthinkable. It’s the biggest deficit since World War II and there in lies a tale. The deficit we built up by the end of World War II was finally paid off in 2006 – more than 50 years later. During that time we built a National Health Service which, until starved of cash by Thatcher, used to be the envy of the world; we built New Towns and communities; we put computers into schools and ok, maybe the trains didn’t always run on time (and sometimes they didn’t run at all!) but our world kept on turning. So, the Conservatives' rush to clear the deficit is ignorant of history and surely driven by ideology rather than necessity.
I have to be honest I think Labour’s plans to halve the deficit in 5 years are over ambitious with our economy so precarious. For me, short term investment for long term gain is the name of the game. Look at housing for example – in Harlow where I live there are over 6,000 people on the waiting list with about 380 properties let to new tenants a year. On that basis, if the list stayed static and no new homes were built it would take over 16 years to clear. So a programme of new house building would make economic and social sense, it’s worked before and it can again. I’m reluctant to see the green open spaces in and around my town diminish but if it’s a choice between that and my neighbours going homeless and hungry – well, what would you do?
In 3 years time my daughter will start school. If the ConDem coalition and its draconian approach lasts, what kind of schooling awaits her? These are real concerns that I know I am not alone in sharing. I fear that Child Benefit will be the thin edge of a very large wedge; “Building for Schools” has already been scrapped and Sure Start is under threat. During the election when Labour predicted such things the Tories said we were lying and scaremongering – we were not, we were desperately trying to remind people that Tory ideology prevents them from doing anything other than looking after themselves and the capitalist system on which they depend.
We are witnessing Cruel Conservatism at its worse but there is an alternative – join the Labour Party and fight for the future – visit www.labour.org.uk.
Thanks for reading.
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