More People To Die Before Retirement.

The organised crime syndicate known as the Tory party has dropped yet another bombshell today in their bid to return us all to the 1840's and reward themselves with yet another juicy tax cut. Those of us unfortunate enough to be born during the 1970's or later will not now receive a state pension until they are aged 68. It is no coincidence that this measure has been taken in the same week that it was announced that ordinary people's life expectancy has ceased to increase. Austerity has delivered one of the glittering prizes for the Tory party - more people will die before they can claim their state pension saving £74 billion that can then be grabbed by the already rich, greedy and selfish and stuffed into their tax-free offshore bank accounts. Many of our children and grandchildren, burdened by the debt of an education, unaffordable mortgages or rent and crippling health insurance, will never be able to retire but will be worked to death in order to fund this windfall for the Tories and those criminal elements who bankroll them. The younger generation will not only be worse off than those now at retirement age, they will be worse off than their ancestors dead for 100 years. The Tories are succeeding in their bid to roll back the welfare state and replace it with the dog-eat-dog dystopia that existed before World War II. They are stealing our children's and grandchildren's future in order to strengthen and extend their cult of greed. They can be stopped however. All we have to do is stop voting for them and start voting for hope instead of despair.

Why Corbyn's Economic Policy Makes Sense.

Let us first consider a few statements made by the psychopaths who run the Tory party. David Cameron asks us to believe that there is no connection between increasing poverty and cuts to the benefit system. Iain Duncan Smith assures us that there is no connection between benefit sanctions and the suicide of those left destitute by those sanctions. Boris Johnson tells us that today's junior doctor's strike is because they are 'in the grip of advanced Corbynitis'. Jeremy Hunt tells us that the NHS, amidst its worst crisis in 60 years, is "safe" in his hands. The one thing that connects all of these statements together is that they are all obvious falsehoods, pedaled by cheap crooks who are seeking only to reward themselves with nice juicy tax cuts. These people, together with several Tories inside the Labour Party, also tell us that Jeremy Corbyn's economic plans will lead to economic meltdown, that Corbyn is an economic illiterate and that his policies are too left-wing. So how does this square with a letter written by 41 leading economists, including a former adviser to the Bank of England? “The accusation is widely made that Jeremy Corbyn and his supporters have moved to the extreme left on economic policy. But this is not supported by the candidate’s statements or policies. His opposition to austerity is actually mainstream economics, even backed by the conservative IMF. He aims to boost growth and prosperity. Despite the barrage of media coverage to the contrary, it is the current government’s policy and its objectives which are extreme. The attempt to produce a balanced public sector budget primarily through cuts to spending failed in the previous parliament. Increasing child poverty and cutting support for the most vulnerable is unjustifiable. Cutting government investment in the name of prudence is wrong because it prevents growth, innovation and productivity increases which are all much needed by our economy, and so over time increases the debt due to lower tax receipts. We the undersigned are not all supporters of Jeremy Corbyn. But we hope to clarify just where the ‘extremism’ lies in the current economic debate." So who should we believe? A bunch of self-seeking, greedy, selfish crooks or people who actually know what they are talking about?

Austerity Vs Democracy.

Austerity is fast becoming the new orthodoxy, championed by millionaire politicians on behalf of billionaire businessmen who want the rest of us to believe that we are too greedy. The central message is that the world has only limited resources and ordinary people have been harbouring unrealistic expectations for far too long. We are told that we have been living beyond our means and it was because of this that the world economy crashed and burned in 2008. Like all propaganda this message has power because it contains a grain of truth. The world does indeed have only limited resources and some of us at least have been living beyond our means. But this is not a question of what resources are available so much as how those resources are shared out. The world economy did indeed crash and burn because of unrealistic expectations - the unrealistic expectations of the greedy, selfish and already too wealthy. It was the bankers, chasing unearned and undeserved bonuses, who crashed the world economy. It was the bankers who lied, cheated and ignored reality while greedy and corrupt politicians turned a blind eye and stashed their own equally unearned and undeserved "bonuses" in off-shore, tax free bank accounts. The central message of Austerity is, therefore, not about ordinary people being too greedy but how to disguise, excuse and explain away the greed and selfishness of a small elite. It is a difficult message to sell in the face of the facts and, quite often, the reality of what Austerity actually is becomes so clear that politicians have to take emergency action. Such emergency action has been recently witnessed in Portugal where new elections have delivered an absolute majority to a left-wing anti-Austerity coalition. To prevent this coalition from gaining real power Portugal's President, Anibal Cavaco Silva, has refused point-blank to allow it to form a government, telling a bemused Portuguese electorate that 'This is the worst moment for a radical change to the foundations of our democracy'. In other words democracy in Portugal can only be preserved by denying the democratic process. A similar message is also being heard here in Britain where the Tory plan to reduce tax credits paid to the working poor has run into trouble. Brushing aside the fact that Cameron and Osborne told a direct lie to the electorate in order to fool them into giving the Tories a working majority, the government has solved this dilemma by similarly undermining what passes for the democratic process at Westminster. Faced by opposition from the completely undemocratic House of Lords Cameron is threatening to close it down. Austerity is not and never has been about righting wrongs in the world economy. It is about preserving those wrongs and saving a greedy, selfish and ultimately stupid elite from the consequences of their own actions. It is all about ordinary people - you and me - paying for their mistakes and nothing, especially democracy, can be allowed to get in the way of that.

Tories Keep Their Promise To Reduce Inequality.

George Osborne has been outlining his plans to reduce inequality in the country. "The first thing we are going to do," he told our reporter, "is to abolish inheritance tax on houses up to £1 million for those people unfortunate enough to own a mansion. Many of these poor souls are huddled in tiny seven bedroomed houses surrounded by depressing open fields and with only a single drawing room, wine cellar and library between a whole family. Now, of course, this has to be paid for so I've decided to take it from selfish sick people who simply refuse to get better and the unemployed who enjoy a film star lifestyle on benefits. Just in case some of those who happen to own a £1 million mansion by accident in London and are, through no fault of their own, unemployed, I am going to reduce the amount of benefits that northern scroungers can claim outside of London. As you can see I am not afraid to make tough decisions, especially if they are tough on some one else and I am absolutely convinced that these policies will be very popular with those 37% of voters selfish and greedy enough to give us our overwhelming majority. Isn't democracy a wonderful thing!" Convinced by this erudite and convincing argument we asked a working class Tory voter for his opinion. "Oooh, he's just like the Blessed Margaret Thatcher. What wouldn't I give for him to spit in my face. Wonderful people the Tories."

Why Labour Cannot Refute The Austerity Argument.

There are few economists in the world who do not recognise that austerity as an economic principle is utter nonsense. Ever since the 1930's it has been known - known that is and not simply believed - that the only way out of recession is to stimulate the economy by deficit spending. The Tories understand this like everyone else but continue to wield the axe because they would rather the poor paid for the present recession, caused by criminal bankers, rather than themselves and their rich mates. And, it must be said, it has worked to a certain extent - the rich have grown richer while the poor have grown poorer and those in the middle have all but stood still. So why has Labour not pointed this out and advocated an end to austerity entirely? The problem is that in order to refute austerity some sophisticated arguments are needed and these immediately run into the simplistic argument that the Tories have deployed - that the British economy is just like a household budget. The British electorate, largely unintelligent, ill-educated and led around by the nose by a right-wing press, think they understand this argument and lack the attention span necessary to hear about the alternative. Labour, recognising this but unable to tell the electorate that they are thick, have no choice therefore but to pay lip-service to this Tory cliche in order to prove their economic credentials. Labour, in effect, have ducked the argument on the very sensible grounds that they cannot win. If they argue for an end to austerity they will appear dull and uninteresting and be open to the accusation that they are "out of touch". The Tories, meanwhile, will trot out the "just like a household budget" argument knowing full well that this is simply short-hand for "you're too thick to understand". Paul Krugman, the American economist, has described the Tory obsession with austerity as a "delusion" but the truth is that it is a confidence trick perpetrated by the greedy, selfish and dishonest and accepted by an electorate too dumb to walk and chew gum at the same time.

Tory Complacency.

The Tories have demonstrated quite clearly in the last two days that their complacency knows no bounds. First we have their attitude to the unprecedented outbreak of Ebola in West Africa. Essentially they have done nothing to protect the country, the head of the Border Force Dan O'Mahoney freely admitting that since the outbreak began 1,000 people a month travelling from West Africa have been allowed to enter the country freely with no health checks whatsoever. But not to worry because, according to the Ministry of Health, we shouldn't expect more than about 10 cases diagnosed in Britain before the end of the year. The reason we shouldn't worry about this, according to Boris Johnson, is because we have a much better healthcare system than is found in West Africa. The NHS, it would seem, will act as a barrier to a widespread outbreak in Britain and those selfless and courageous public sector employees who work for it will willingly risk their lives to save the rest of us even as they are being refused a measly 1% pay rise. The Tories have not shown such idiotic complacency with regard to public health since they deregulated the food industry under Margaret Thatcher and gifted us all with new variant CJD or Mad Cow Disease. Next we have George Osborne, the world's leading economic ignoramus, carefully explaining why the falling rate of inflation in Britain (except in the housing market) is good news for us all. In a time of economic expansion and growing economic strength this would be true. In a time of sluggish economic activity such as we are presently experiencing it is most certainly not. Low inflation under these conditions is simply a reflection of the lack of demand in the economy - a lack of demand caused by a deflationary policy of austerity that has undermined confidence and forced down wages. To paraphrase Tacitus; "They create a desert and call it economic success." The Tory party should carry a health and wealth warning - "You vote for these morons at your peril".

Cameron Pledges "Unlimited Funds" To Save His Grubby Neck.

David Cameron has decided to ditch austerity for the moment in order to bail out, literally, the swathe of Tory voters who have suddenly fallen victim to his campaign of spending cuts. "We goofed," Cameron told our reporter as he pulled on his wellies for yet another photo opportunity. "The cuts were never supposed to affect Tory voters and I blame everyone else for this. It might well be that Britain can't afford welfare for the sick and disabled, the NHS or pensions for useless old people but we have billions when it comes to those who can't afford to protect their own homes against flooding and happen to vote Tory. People have to realise that the country is nearly bankrupt after Labour crashed the world banking system because of their mismanagement of the property market in the United States and we only have enough money to subsidise rich Tory voters. There is a world of difference between benefit scroungers and flood defence scroungers - at least in terms of how they vote. The most important thing, however, is that this money, which has appeared as if by magic, will save my political neck. Tory voters shouldn't worry because I promise that those responsible for this disaster - the unemployed, the sick and the disabled - will pay for it. Don't forget, Tory voters, we're all in this together - the rest of the country can and will go to hell."

Will The Floods Sink The Tories?

Most of the world does not accept blood products from Britain because they fear that our blood supply is contaminated with CJD or mad cow disease. The reason for this is because Margaret Thatcher deregulated the food industry so her rich land-owning mates could make more money. Deregulation, in the wake of the banking crisis of 2008, is no longer in vogue but, nothing loath, the Tories have a new insane idea that they want to foist on the rest of us - austerity. The picture above illustrates all too well what austerity actually means. It means the very rich pay less in tax while public services are starved of funds, it means the rich get more and we get less - or so they hope. This was all going well while it was the inner-city poor, the unemployed, the sick and the disabled being targeted because they have no voice. Flooded river valleys are a very different kettle of fish however. This is where the moderately wealthy blue-rinse set hang out, those who tend to vote Tory on the basis that the nastiness won't affect them but might, just might, save them a few quid in taxes. Now the Tories, with no convenient poor people to blame, are turning on each other - pointing fingers in the hope that they can avoid personal responsibility. But the Tories and those stupid enough to vote for them cannot avoid responsibility for the floods. This is what tax cuts for the rich mean so you can either get used to it and move to higher ground, or you stop voting for greed and selfishness and start voting for a society that actually works. Its your choice.

Osborne "Cautious Of Increase In Minimum Wage."

Having given millionaires a tax cut so they can take even more money out of circulation by stuffing it all into their offshore bank accounts, George Osborne has now expressed "caution" with regard to any increase in the minimum wage. "We have to be careful that extra money in ordinary people's pockets doesn't increase demand," he told our reporter. "That could cause a disaster of untrammelled proportion as the economy improves and makes austerity look increasingly stupid and self-defeating. Before we know where we are homelessness could decrease, ordinary people actually be able to heat their hovels and, heaven forbid, even afford enough food to keep themselves healthy. All of this would then mean that we would have no excuse to flog off public services to our rich mates at knock down prices as we did with Royal Mail. The NHS could still, even at this late date, slip through our fingers while all the healthcare companies who have been bribing us might then stop "donating" to the party. What people fail to understand is that the importance of the economy of Britain as a whole pales into insignificance when compared to the economy of the Tory party. Austerity equals an excuse to steal publicly-owned assets which can then be laundered through the private sector into party funds and then into my offshore bank account. Fortunately there are enough stupid people in the country who have swallowed the idea that wages represent a tax on employment and any increase in the minimum wage must inevitably lead to higher unemployment. Of course, by that logic, paying no wages at all would erase unemployment completely, but, thank God, the average Tory voter isn't bright enough to realise this."

Know Your Political Masters.

George Osborne appeared on the Andrew Marr Show today to tell us all why his manufactured house price bubble is not a bubble, why energy prices can't be frozen while pensioners can and why austerity has to last for ever. It's all because his "recovery" is dependent on these things while Labour threatens this because they want to borrow more. Apart from an unintentional slip when he admitted that the crash of 2008 was the fault of the banks and not Labour, it was a strange argument since he was telling us on one hand that the "recovery" was only for a selected segment of the country since it is austerity forever for the rest of us. His economic measures, he tells us with a straight face, have protected our credit rating and this has enabled his to borrow more in the last three years than Labour did in the entire thirteen years of their government. So, it is clear that borrowing to benefit the already wealthy is good while borrowing to benefit ordinary people is bad. As for the latest Osborne-created property price bubble the explanation for that is, mercifully, quite straightforward. Increasing house values is counted as part of Britain's Gross National Product and underpins Osborne's so-called "recovery". Of course houses haven't suddenly become more productive and begun to earn more because they are working harder. Their increasing value is pure fiction and that tells you everything you need to know about Osborne's "recovery." So, when you strip out the utter bilge, evasions and downright lies what is Osborne and his "recovery" all about? The clue lies in those who bankroll the Tory party, the men whose "donations" are the grease that keeps the Tory wheels turning and the men who call the shots. Men like David Rowland, the property tycoon; Michael Farmer, hedge fund manager; Henry Angest, banker; Michael Hintze; hedge fund manager; Murdoch McLennan, Chief Executive of the Telegraph Media Group. Bankers, financiers, property developers and the right-wing media. And that is why Tory policy is austerity for us forever and unlimited goodies for an already wealthy elite whose chief talent lies in "avoiding" tax. Just so you know who to tug the forelock for.

MP's Continue With Their Scrounging.

Westminster MP's, despite the government's love of austerity for the rest of us, have continued with their money-grubbing scrounging at the expense of the taxpayer. Their claims for "expenses" have increased by a staggering 7% over the last year as they struggle to find new ways to steal public money to fund their luxury lifestyles. They have also increased the number of their freeloading family members getting paid for doing nothing in particular with one unnamed MP paying his daughter £60,000 per year as a "political advisor", while Nadine Dorries is paying her daughter £40,000 per year as her "office manager". Corruption is an ugly word but is the only one that comes even close to describing the scrounging that is going on in Westminster and which costs an estimated £98 million per year. While the Tories are wringing their hands over the "scrounging" of the unemployed and disabled, MP's are even busier picking the pockets of taxpayers as they themselves scrounge on an epic scale. Double standards and hypocrisy have been a constant feature of the British class-ridden political system and have been allowed to continue because of the historical and craven deference of the electorate. Criminality, however, is a relatively recent development made worse by a government that sees the state not as something to give service to but as something to be plundered for private gain. That is what austerity is actually all about - the diversion of money from public services into the pockets of a greedy, utterly selfish and already wealthy minority with an overweening sense of entitlement.

Clegg Stifles Debate On The Economy.

Nick Clegg and the other Tories who have hijacked the LibDem party have managed to stifle any debate over the economy at their conference today. The Social Liberal Forum (SLF), a LibDem pressure group that still believes democracy actually exists within their party, were "frustrated" when they were expertly outmanoeuvred by the Tory-inspired Insane Tendency that has all but destroyed them as a political force. Prateek Buch, director of the SLF said; "I cannot understand how a serious party of government can decide, against the democratic will of our members, not to debate the single most important issue that faces our country." We asked Nick Clegg for his explanation; "We cannot discuss the economy in any meaningful sense because Britain no longer actually has one. There is absolutely no point in endlessly talking about something we haven't got a clue about or are prepared to do anything about. People have to realise that in order to create a more equal society we have to get rid of poverty and the quickest way to do that is to get rid of the poor. It is clear that making the poor pay for the criminal activity of bankers is the fairest way to tackle this problem - otherwise rich people will have to pay for it and that would never do. The LibDems didn't get where they are today because of democracy or because they know anything about economics. We got here by lying to the electorate and we must persevere with the strategy that has stood us in such good stead so far. The problem with the economy is not that it is flatlining but that people keep asking awkward questions about it."

So What Is Austerity For Again?

David Cameron announced today that protecting Britain's AAA credit rating is "not important." Oh. We've already seen that austerity is not about reducing Britain's debts since the national debt is actually growing and its not about avoiding recession since double-dip and even triple-dip seem to have no significance. In fact all of the economic goals that the Coalition set itself have gone by the way. So the question is, what is austerity for? If not for economic purposes could it be for social purposes? Well yes, since that is the only other reason for having it. So what are those social goals? Look at the evidence. Austerity has made possible the privatisation of the NHS for the benefit of the wealthy - both in terms of business opportunities and tax cuts for themselves. It has made possible a huge cut in welfare benefits - again for the benefit of the wealthy who can expect even more juicy tax cuts. It has led to even more job insecurity for ordinary working people at any rate - the wealthy and influential seem immune to such insecurities. It makes possible a two-tier education system in Britain in which only the wealthy will have any kind of choice for themselves and their children. It is the direct cause of an ever-increasing divide between the haves and have-nots. Austerity, in short, has only two purposes - to increase the privileges and wealth of the already privileged and wealthy and to decrease the meagre resources of the poor. It is nothing less than an all-out assault on the ordinary working man and woman in this country - an undeclared civil war launched as an ambush from behind the protective cover of the LibDem party and a seemingly never-ending recession. The Tories have, in effect, parked their tanks on our lawn. The only real question left is what are you going to do about it?

Tories Near To Their Goal Of Destroying Britain.

Having put a stop to recovery the Tories are celebrating as the "good" news keeps rolling in. Demand has continued to shrink as wages stagnate, the jobless and disabled are stripped of their benefits, the cuts reduce family incomes by 30%, manufacturing hits an all-time low and investment is at the lowest its been since 2008. Indeed the news is so "good" that the Institute for Fiscal Studies is confident that the Tories can keep the recession going until at least 2018. Given the parlous state of the economy the question is, where will the government get its money? There is only one answer - raising taxes - and, given this government's aversion for taxing those who can actually afford it, that means more taxation on the less well off. There are already rumours that George Osborne is contemplating pushing VAT up to 25%. The Tories, who are revelling in this recession since it means they can crack the whip over the heads of ordinary people and turn the country back to the 18th century, are in jubilant mood and remain confident that the British electorate are so stupid that they will return them to power in 2015. This, they smugly believe, is because voters have fallen hook, line and sinker for their "the British economy is just like a household budget" line so favoured by Margaret Thatcher and other insane people. The truth is that no householder would deliberately throw themselves out of work and then sell off all their assets, making themselves homeless in the process, in order to borrow more money to give to their favourite charity - the banks. Yet that is exactly what the Tories have sold to the country. How do you like the ride so far?

The Harrying Of The North.

When William the Conqurer won at the Battle of Hastings he swept away such long-standing English freedoms as electing kings and open forests where the poor could supliment their diet and gather fuel for their hearths. The south of the country was quickly subdued, but the north remained stubbornly opposed. In reply William unleashed a reign of terror that came to be know as "The Harrying of the North." The next 900 years of British history consisted of a long, hard struggle as the conquered won back some of their traditional freedoms inch by inch. Our monarchs are still not elected but we arrived at a compromise - the people got elected governments and the Royals got to keep their heads. The vast majority of the land remains in private hands but at least ramblers are allowed to walk across it. The struggle is far from over, however, and our latest government has far more in common with William I than with any other previous government. Like that foreign chancer William I they have more in common with organised crime than orderly government and are determined to use their accidental accession to power to change the face of Britain forever. A new harrying of the north has begun with their so-called "fair" cuts falling more heavily on Labour councils than Tory ones. Labour councils are facing cuts of £107.70 per person while Tory councils face cuts of only £36.10. Of the worst hit 50 councils 43 are Labour, while of the least hit 50 councils 42 are Tory. Meanwhile rising unemployment, shrinking wages and rising food prices are hitting the poorest in our society and creating nutritional inequalities not seen since the mid-19th century. The Tories are also taking our greatest national asset, the NHS, and selling it to their rich supporters in return for bribes. Corrupt and entirely without a conscience or any sense of patriotism, without a mandate or even a majority, the Tories are mounting what is nothing less than an elitist coup d'etat using a recession they themselves have created as an alibi to impose a vicious austerity on the rest of the population.

Why Voting Tory Costs Lives.

Since the Tories seized power with the help of their LibDem henchmen, the number of premature deaths in Britain has continued to climb. Suicide rates, especially amongst ex-servicemen, have soared as unemployment and cuts to benefits have led many into despair. Deaths amongst the sick have increased as it becomes increasingly difficult to access healthcare. Drug deaths are up, especially amongst the young, as the Tories withdraw from programmes designed to limit the damage. And, for the first time in a decade, road deaths have increased as the Tories slash road safety budgets. This is the true cost of austerity and, as the Tories know only too well, it affects ordinary people to a much higher degree than it does the rich. Once more it is the poor who are paying the price in blood for the crisis engineered by the fatcats in the finance and banking industry as the smug, self-satisfied and selfish dodge their fair share of the pain not to mention taxes. The Tories managed to lay waste to an entire generation back in the 1980's and, as predicted, they have used the present economic crisis as an excuse to lay waste to another one. Using the simplistic argument that a national budget is the same thing as a household budget, they have slashed and burned like the demented barbarians they always were.

Jubilee Anaesthetises The Nation.

The British love to moan about the weather but yesterday proved to be the exception to the rule. TV screens were filled with happy shiny faces cowering under umbrellas and dismissing the usual summer British monsoon with a careless flick of the hand. Words such as "wonderful," "unforgetable," and "exciting" replaced the usual moans and groans, while BBC commentators gushed uncontrollably about how marvelous the Royal Family and Britain actually are. Meanwhile viewers were treated to a mind-numbingly and tedious second-by-second account of Her Maj's progress downriver, with one intellectually-challenged presenter telling us about how dangerous the Thames can be. And the cost to the nation for this rather damp jamboree? A cool £275 million, not counting the cost of security. Still there's nothing like a Royal story to divert attention from reality in this benighted little kingdom. While millions sat glued to their TV sets or braved the British summer weather to munch damp sandwiches in the rain, little regarded news items slipped by without a murmur. While Baroness Warsi has been reported to the police by an outraged Labour MP, the "Independent" pointed out the threefold rise in families being "shunted into bed and breakfast accommodation" by the present gang of spivs and conmen who like to call themselves a government. The "Guardian" reported that family incomes had fallen for the third year in succession while final demand in the economy continues to slump. In the "New York Times" Paul Krugman told the British, yet again, that austerity, apart from being counter-productive, is little more than a cover for the Tory ideological goal of shrinking the state at a time when it badly needs to increase its activity. While the British people stand around innanely waving their little flags and look forward to a summer filled with expensive sporting events to engage their tiny minds, their country, their future and their voice is slowly being lost as a bunch of Tory pickpockets work the crowd.

Hospital Workers Forced To Take Pay Cut.

While bankers at J.P.Morgan have been busy losing yet more money and pocketing their unearned bonuses, while politicians across the world continue to put their ego's before the interests of people and pocket bribes while they're at it, domiciliary staff at Addenbrooke's hospital are being blackmailed to accept lower wages. This has nothing directly to do with the NHS, however, since the staff in question are employed by a private company called Medirest. They have told their employees that they can either accept this or lose their jobs. In microcosm it is a fine example of what is wrong with Britain. The cost cutting exercise by Medirest came about because their contract was up for renewal and the hospital, having had its money effectively cut by the Tories, had no choice but to negotiate a better deal. Medirest's immediate reaction was to cut its wage bill - not for the executives of course, but for the ordinary workers. Suddenly contracts of employment were not worth the paper they were written on (unless it was for an executive of course) and blackmail became the favoured tactic. This then is the destiny that the Tories have in mind for the rest of the NHS as it is increasingly privatised by stealth. Now a whole raft of ordinary people will find their disposable income curtailed and they will, innevitably, spend less in the wider economy. This will have a knock-on effect and, as demand continues to plummit, more and more businesses will either go bust or cut wages too. That is how austerity works - or rather doesn't work. Selfish, stupid and self-defeating, austerity is nothing less than a opportunity for rich people to increase their own wealth, pauperise the already poor and cut their tax bill at the expense of the rest of us.