Austerity

In a remarkable trick, a crisis that began with the failures of private banks has been transformed into a crisis of public debt. The government would have us believe that a period of austerity – wage freezes, job cuts, and cuts to public spending – is essential. But as the economy has plunged back into recession, these policies are under increasing attack.

Austerity is not working, so why are we still being promised years of it to come? The truth is that the leaders of all the major parties are committed to austerity, not because it’s good for us, but because it’s good for them and their wealthy friends.  The highest earners are making a killing while the rest of us face job insecurity and cuts to pay, pensions, services and benefits.
The millionaires in government and the media want us to focus on the ‘lazy’ unemployed, lone parents, immigrants, and disabled people. But even their own figures for benefit fraud are infinitesimal compared to tax avoidance and evasion – and the vast sums spent on bailing out the banks.

from Brighton Benefits Campaign 20 Sep 2012