UNITE: ConDems raze our public services to the ground
Responding to George Osborne’s spending review, Unite’s joint general secretary, Derek Simpson said:
“This is not a spending review – it’s a massacre. It’s totally perverse to claim that cutting half a million jobs and razing our public services to the ground is good for this country. No matter how often they repeat that their actions are fair, this government is making a political choice to attack the public sector and, by doing this now damaging the whole of the economy long into the future.
“There is no evidence that public sector workers who lose their jobs will find alternative work in the private sector. In fact these cuts will destroy nearly as many private sector jobs as public sector ones.”
Coalition cuts are ideological, not economic
. *Germany, France and Japan have all got higher net debt than the UK.
. *In April 2010, the IMF stated the UK has the lowest government debt as a proportion of GDP in the G7.
Hundreds of thousands of jobs will go
. The Treasury predicts the cuts will lead to at least 500,000 public sector jobs losses and between 600,000 and 700,000 private sector jobs in the next four years.
. For every four public sector jobs cuts, three more will follow in the private sector.
. Unemployment is expected to surge above 10% in half of our regions by 2015.
. Public sector spending cuts could reduce private sector gross output by around £46 billion per annum by 2014/15.
We are not all in this together
. The cuts will make the poorest 10% of households worse off by £1,514 a year – or 21.7% of household income.
. The richest 10% of households will lose just 3.6% of their annual household income.
. With 65% of the overall public sector workforce female, women will be hit harder by job cuts and the two year pay freeze (2011 – 2013).
. Female unemployment now stands at one million; over 200,000 18-24 year olds have been out of work for over one year.
There is a better way
. Wealthy companies and individuals cost the country £25 billion a year in tax avoidance.
. £4.7 billion can be raised by introducing a 50% tax rate on incomes over £100,000.
. A tax on the banks, derivative trading and major hedge funds of just 5p for every £1000 transacted could generate $400 billion globally; in the UK tens of billions of pounds could be generated,
. For every £1 billion spent on health, education and social work there is an increase in demand in the economy worth £1.854 billion.
Where is Plan B?
. The government has no strategy for growing jobs. It has denied a loan to Sheffield Forgemasters, is ending the Future Jobs Fund and scrapping the Regional Development Agencies.
. In July 2010, the markets reported that UK deficit had narrowed, reducing government’s borrowing requirements and prompting many to ask, why cut so hard and so deeply?
ENDS
Contact: Ciaran Naidoo on 07768 931 315 or Pauline Doyle on 07976 832 861
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