UK austerity has inflicted 'great misery' on citizens, UN says

UK austerity has inflicted 'great misery' on citizens, UN says
theguardian.com

The UK is one of the richest countries in the world. Part of the reason for that is a long period of generally pro-business, economically conservative government. That's good in many ways, because in a modern economy, business and investment is needed to drive improvements in individual living standards.

But doing that relies on a sensible long-term strategy that can be used to achieve social goals. There is no point in cutting healthcare spending for preventative services, for example, if those cuts result in higher long-term costs. Cutting spending on disability benefits doesn't magically save money – it just transfers the cost of disability support to charities and carers, while in many cases destroying the lives of people who have worked and contributed for many years.

The thing is, when you say "a little belt tightening", this actually means that people in the UK with the lowest incomes start to suffer and in some cases die. I struggle to believe that it is good long-term economic policy to have a large share of the population struggling to afford basic essentials, while the richest demographics continue to increase their wealth.

In the most recent UK budget, I received a large tax cut despite being a relatively high earner. Indeed, UK policy seems to be continuing to shift in that direction, and the only possible reason I can see for that is a deliberate, ideological attempt to enact a policy of minimal public spending.

The UK has many economic and structural problems which could be dealt with, but it's hard to see how continuing to redistribute wealth to the richest parts of the country is going to do that. And of course we now have an entire government that will be paralysed by the economic and political aspects of Brexit for the next decade, so I guess there's no immediate chance of salvation.