Britain’s nasty government
Richard Seymour — June 28, 2010 0 Comments
At the moment, polls show that the government’s strategy is working, and that most people acquiesce in the cuts agenda. I would say ’support’, rather than acquiesce, but this would imply that the agenda was being approved rather than met with terrorised compliance
Economics
Prepare for the flood: Class war in the UK
Richard Seymour — November 18, 2009 2 Comments
A BBC poll finds that the majority of Britons favour spending cuts. In particular, given a choice between tax hikes and cuts to benefits, 59% favour cuts to benefits. A poll is not holy writ, and respondents do not answer on oath, or in-depth. Posing the question differently – should we tax the rich instead?, etc. – would yield different answers. Nonetheless, such findings indicate that a substantial number of people are amenable to Tory arguments. And that the propaganda war being waged by capital is succeeding
Economics, Editor's Pick
‘Break down the hate and bring out the kindness’: Improving the UK’s benefit system
julian dobson — November 7, 2009 0 Comments
Jess Steele, one of the architects of the Community Allowance, was passionate about the ‘billions of pounds we spend on welfare every year just to keep people above the gutter’. As the Liberal Democrat peer Archy Kirkwood put it, one of the best things about the Community Allowance is that it ‘changes the paradigm about how people in poverty are seen’