PCS: Government wants to turn clock back to Victorian era
Moving the TUC conference motion in defence of the welfare state, Public and Commercial Services union national president Janice Godrich said the government’s budget in June was an attack on its founding principles.
She said that when the Tories say ‘we are all in this together’ they exempt the rich and powerful. “This coalition government is making it clear: it is the poor that should pay for the crisis,” Janice said.
“Instead of taking on the bankers and the tax dodgers this government is taking them on to the payroll: Sir Philip Green appointed to review public spending, former banker Stephen Green as a trade minister.”
She added that chancellor George Osborne announced last week a further £4 billion of welfare cuts on top of the £11 billion announced in the budget. “There was no detail of who will be targeted by these cuts: will it be the long-term unemployed, single parents, the disabled, pensioners, or carers?”
“The budget was not progressive, but regressive,” she added. “It was an attack on the founding principles of the welfare state: universal, comprehensive benefits paid on the basis of need to stop people descending into poverty.
“We need to defend the welfare state. It is the hallmark of a civilised society that those unable to work do not live in poverty. Cameron and his cronies want to turn back the clock to the Victorian age, to the workhouse, to a moralistic division between the deserving and undeserving poor.”
ENDS
Notes
– To download a copy of the union’s ‘There is an alternative: the case against cuts in public spending’ document visit www.pcs.org.uk“>
– For information and interview requests, contact PCS national press officer Richard Simcox on 07833 978216
– The Public and Commercial Services union represents civil and public servants in central government. It has more than 300,000 members in over 200 departments and agencies. It also represents workers in parts of government transferred to the private sector. PCS is the UK’s fifth largest union and is affiliated to the TUC. The general secretary is Mark Serwotka and the president is Janice Godrich
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