In the last year, according to the Sunday Times Rich List tracking of Britain’s ultra-rich, the richest 1,000 persons in Britain increased their personal wealth last year by no less than £70bn. That means each has gained on average £70 millions in this last year. Over the 5 years now since the crash, it is almost unbelievable that these 1,000 people have increased their personal wealth by a staggering £260bn. Their total wealth doubled from £258bn in 2009 to £519bn now. Continue reading
Tagged with poverty
Unequal wealth in the UK – the best illustration ever
A truly excellent video – which will take up less than 3 minutes of your life – about inequality as British people think it is and should be, and how much worse it really is. From the good people at Inequality Briefing. Very well done to them.
Hat tip: Socialist Unity. This video is essentially a remake of the US version which we showed last year
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Parliament tomorrow debates the impact of Tory welfare reforms on poverty
Two events in this last week point up both the savagery and mindlessness of the Tories’ continuing and relentless assault on benefits. One was Osborne’s declaration that, after lopping off £25bn from the social security system in this parliament, he will make additional £25bn cuts in the next parliament half of which will be severed from working-age benefits (with scarcely a cheep of protest from Labour). The other was the revelation that up to 40,000 people have been wrongly identified as liable for the bedroom tax, and therefore either facing eviction or forced to move to one-bedroom properties, as a result of DWP error.
These are just the latest items in the catalogue of the sheer nastiness of Tory Britain which seems aimed ultimately at the disposal of the entire welfare system with the exception of benefits for pensioners (whose votes are needed), even though nearly all of it has been earned by 40 years of payments of national insurance contributions to which those who have subsequently fallen on hard times are therefore fully entitled. Continue reading
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Everyone, including DWP staff, think universal credit is a disaster
Universal credit was supposed to be introduced by Iain Duncan Smith (IDS) and the Department for Work & Pensions in September, but the roll-out date continually gets postponed. The aim is to replace several in- and out-of-work benefits – job seeker’s allowance, income support, employment and support allowance, tax credits, plus housing benefit and support for childcare costs – with one single payment. However there are snags, big ones: Continue reading
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The War on the Poor
April 1st is usually the time for a bit of a knockabout. Indeed, you can expect bouts of the usual silliness tomorrow. David Cameron and Nick Clegg to record Especially For You for charidee? Brilliant. Harry Cole taken on as Number 10 press officer? What a hoot. Boris Johnson to go for Prime Minister? Chortle. But while Tory ministers are chuckling over their cold meats and croissants, few of them will be sparing a thought for the hammer they’re smashing down on our poorest and most vulnerable households. Continue reading
