• Thursday, March 28, 2024

Comment

‘Time to change failing Tory austerity policies’

By: JurmoloyaRava

LABOUR SETS OUT PLAN TO COMBAT ‘INJUSTICE OF INEQUALITY’ IN SOCIETY

by DAWN BUTLER
Shadow secretary of
state for women and
equalities

THIS week the chancellor will deliver the autumn budget and it has never been clearer that the country needs a change.

In 2010, the Conservatives unleashed a programme of devastating spending cuts which have dis­proportionately impacted on the most vulnerable in society. Since then, a shocking 86 per cent of the cuts have fallen on women.

Prime minister Theresa May herself said in 2010 that “there are real risks that women, ethnic mi­norities, disabled people and older people will be disproportionately affected by proposed cuts to public spending”. So she cannot pretend she does not know the impact of austerity and that impact has been severe.

Research from the Women’s Budget Group and the Runnymede Trust has shown that as a result of tax and benefit changes by 2020, black and Asian households with the lowest fifth of incomes will experience the biggest average drop in living stand­ards of 19.2 per cent and 20.1 per cent respectively. Black and Asian single mothers are also set to lose £4,000 and £4,200 a year, respectively, on average by 2020 from the tax and benefit changes imple­mented since 2010.

But if that wasn’t evidence enough of how cruel this government is, new analysis has shown that because of their changes to universal credit, low-paid workers will be subject to an additional pen­alty, with women and ethnic minorities hardest hit.

By April 2021, 5.9 million women living in house­holds eligible for universal credit under 2013 rules will lose £4,406 as a result of the combined impact of all changes to benefits, tax credits, universal credit, income tax, NICS and the National Living Wage introduced since June 2010. Black women – wheth­er employed or not – stand to lose £5,030 a year.

So when the prime minister spoke of tackling the “burning injustices” in society, clearly they were nothing more than just words. Her only idea was to bring all the data together on a website which took over a year to publish.

What we need is action, not audits.

What this country needs is a government not afraid to highlight uncomfortable truths, to face uncomfortable truths, and to tackle the uncomfort­able truths. That means dealing with the issues of race, class and gender head on, not dismantling all the pillars of society that make our country fairer – for instance, the introduction of employment tribu­nal fees, which have since been found unlawful, that blocked access to justice for so many.

Labour is that government in waiting. We stand ready to build a fairer, more equal society and build an economy for the many, not the few. The Labour party is and always has been the party of equality and economic justice and we will take action.

In my pre-budget speech last Friday (19), I set out how the injustices of inequality will drive our programme in government. Labour will prioritise boosting the income of African Caribbean and Asian communities by raising the statutory mini­mum wage to a Real Living Wage of at least £10 per hour by 2020.

A Labour government would introduce equal pay audit requirements for large companies and implement the Parker review recommendations to increase ethnic diversity on the board of Britain’s biggest companies.

And we will launch an inquiry into name-based employment discrimination and roll out name-blind, skills-based recruitment practices if neces­sary. These are just some of Labour’s real solutions to real problems.

This week I am calling on the chancellor to make a change and deliver a budget truly fair for all our diverse communities. As a starting point, the gov­ernment must publish a comprehensive equality impact assessment of its budget and halt the roll out of universal credit immediately.

If they cannot deliver at least these most simple of steps, then perhaps they should hand over the policy making to Labour, as we have the courage to do just that.

[TheChamp-Sharing]

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