Since this country has acquired the national debt,
this government seems only keen to balance the books by any old means
whatsoever. So what if some old bloke in sheltered housing will have no warden to
check if he has eaten all day? So what if some troubled youths will have nowhere to go
but an abusive home or fall back into drug abuse? So what? Let’s balance the
books so that we can look good for the next election!
Unfair Cuts to Voluntary Organizations
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| Cuts in Public Funding |
There are real stories behind these horrendous cuts
and real casualties. The scale of the cuts is truly terrifying and is ruining
this country. Let’s take a look at some of the horror stories behind the
government’s cutting strategy.
Unfair Cuts to the UK Public Sector
Unfair cuts are happening to local councils, voluntary
organisations, charity organizations, youth centres and old people’s homes. The
extent and direction of these cuts affect the following examples:
Not for profit organizations for people with learning
difficulties.
Organizations that support and help alcoholics,
substance and drug abusers.
Charities that help children and young people with
mental health problems.
Local youth centres and services for people with
nowhere to go.
Citizen’s Advice Bureaus.
Charity organizations that help stop young people from
reoffending.
Young carers projects that offer relief for children
who care for a family member.
Staff that support old people in sheltered accommodation.
Charity organizations that support the disabled.
Community centres that serve homeless people.
Carers and counsellors for young disabled people.
Support and help for children with HIV.
And many more...
The consequence of this is job losses. Job losses, job
losses and more job losses. And the consequence of job losses are evictions, homelessness and increase in debt. This is frightening when there are already over 1
million homeless people in this country.
Horrific Cuts to Charity Services
So according to the Government, in order to balance
the books in this country we must cut services to vulnerable people until they have
no support network.
A close member of my family has been affected by these
government cuts. He is in his eighties and lives in sheltered accommodation.
There are several old people with mental health difficulties who live in his
complex. There are plans to get rid of all staff, emergency buttons and privatize the complex. Whenever I visit my family member, another resident is
seen punching his door and wailing. That’s all he does. Wails and punches the door.
No one ever visits this man. He only speaks to the
warden. What will happen when the warden disappears along with the emergency
button? What will happen once the complex is privatized and anyone can move in?
This man with mental health problems has been a victim of burglary several
times and is a sitting duck for the unscrupulous. He represents thousands of
people in this country who will be left with no support system whatsoever
because of the government’s ‘cuts’.
Bad Solution for National Debt
According to Nick Robinson’s report Spend, spend, spend – what are politicians
up to? (BBC News Politics 1 December 2014), the politicians are still
spending as though there is no debt. The Coalition
has pledged to spend billions upgrading the road network. Hmm.
Okay, so the roads
are important, but hasn’t the government got their priorities wrong?
Good Money After Bad
The government is also pledging billions to be spent
on flood defences after wet winters. And yet the government’s National Housing
Strategy and a relax on planning rules is causing building to occur on floodplains anyway. Farmland in the UK is being depleted, forcing the UK to import food
from the EU, to be at the mercy of the overseas prices. Taxes will go up,
causing a further squeeze in this country. Again, the poor and vulnerable will
suffer and more cuts are inevitable.
Labour claims they would reduce the national debt in a
‘fairer’ way by stagger-taxing the rich via a ‘mansion tax’ to homes worth over
£2million. There will obviously be a huge outcry. But taxes will increase anyway. And I
strongly suspect the vulnerable will be clobbered again.
Instead of investing the money where it is really
needed, the money is being spent on a quick fix to look good. If support networks for the
vulnerable were to stay, people would remain in jobs, the vulnerable could
attain some independence and contribute to this country. Communities would have a heart. Without vital
support where it is needed, the damage to this country will be costlier than the money saved from these cuts.
Link Relating to News about Unfair Government Cuts
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