Share this page!

GET A GRIP Profile picture
Twitter logo
Jan 4 • 8 tweets • 4 min read
THREAD

#Austerity isn't an 'economic necessity', it's a cruel political choice.

Austerity policies since 2010 haven't been substantially reversed or retracted in recent years. In fact, they've often been levelled at the most marginalised social groups.
theconversation.com/austerity-has-…
In 2019, cuts in total expenditure on welfare & benefit payments alone were expected to total £37 billion a year by 2020. Millions are struggling with the #CostOfLivingCrises, & a further £28 billion of cuts to public funding were announced in the Govt’s November 2022 budget. Image
Perpetual cumulative cuts to welfare, education, social & healthcare services have caused 330,000 deaths & shape daily lives & social relationships. The effects continue, across time & generations, worsening existing inequalities relating to gender, race, class, age & disability. Image
In the UK, this started with #neoliberalism & the early dismantling of the welfare state alongside diminished investment in deprived & post-industrial areas from the 1980s onwards. These programmes have entrenched inequality in certain regions of the UK.

theconversation.com/three-charts-t…
The UK is already the second-most unequal G7 country after the US. A combination of higher inflation & economic inactivity, & lower disposable incomes & employment rates are set to make inequality in the UK worse, with left-behind areas feeling the brunt.

newstatesman.com/chart-of-the-d…
#Austerity arose from the recession following the global financial crisis, which wasn't caused by ordinary people affected most by austerity cuts, but by Government underregulation of the financial sector which encouraged irresponsible risk-taking incentivised by massive bonuses. Image
Austerity is more deeply embedded in certain parts of the country. Even if cuts were reversed today, the long-term effects for millions may continue for generations. Economic policies should be implemented alongside forecasts of what their effects will be for future generations. Image
How did we get here?

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
　

Keep Current with GET A GRIP

GET A GRIP Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @docrussjackson

GET A GRIP Profile picture
Jan 6
#THREAD on Linda Whetstone, daughter of Antony Fisher, founder of the free-market IEA.

She was Chair of the free-market Atlas Network from 2016, & President of the Mont Pelerin Society in 2020.

Here's her 1978 speech at the Conservative party conference:
bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00…
In 1959, aged 17, Linda Whetstone & her dad, Antony Fisher, participated in her first Mont Pelerin Society meeting in Oxford. She was inspired by the revolutionary ideas discussed by participants. & a lecture from free-market extremist, Friedrich Hayek.

She was the Atlas Network Chair of the Board in 2016, which now has around 500 partner think-tanks in 100 countries, & Chair of the Board of Free Social Networks (formerly the International Policy Network) in 2000. She was on the IEA board of directors.

Read 18 tweets
GET A GRIP Profile picture
Jan 6
#THREAD

A #strike is a withdrawal of labour by a worker, often under the instruction of a trade union.

Strikes have been happening since the workers at the Royal Necropolis at Deir el-Medina in Egypt organised an uprising in 1152 BC over late wages.

worldhistory.org/article/1089/t…
British industrial action has a much shorter, but turbulent, history. There were withdrawals of labour in the medieval & early modern periods, although these were organised by small groups of craft workers in contravention of legislation such as the Statute of Artificers (1563).
Between 1696-1720s, the Journeymen of Feltmakers negotiated with employers & occasionally called strikes. London tailors did much the same from the 1720s, but the Combination Acts prevented workers combining in a trade union, prohibited such action, & wages were fixed by statute.
Read 15 tweets
GET A GRIP Profile picture
Jan 5
#THREAD 😷

"Over the course of the pandemic, epidemiologists have established with new certainty the FACT that one of our oldest methods for controlling respiratory viruses, the face mask, remains one of the most effective tools in a pandemic." 😷👍

pnas.org/doi/full/10.10…
"There is a straightforward way to cut down on the risk for ourselves & others. When it comes to individual decisions, masks are among the most low-cost & most effective steps that can be taken to broadly reduce transmission of a multitude of viruses."

theconversation.com/as-viral-infec…
"Meta-analyses of viral spread during the original SARS epidemic in 2002-2003 showed that one infection was averted for every six people wearing a mask, and for every three people who were wearing an N95 mask."

bmj.com/content/336/76…
Read 13 tweets
GET A GRIP Profile picture
Jan 4
Successive UK Governments must *really* hate young people.
Yes, Denmark is known for being an expensive country in which its residents pay a high rate of income tax.

However, it’s also known as being the home of some of the world’s happiest people.

So why are the people who get taxed the most so happy?
In Denmark, residents pay multiple taxes to the state and their municipality. Combined, the average Dane pays tax at a rate of around 45%. This led to Denmark having the highest share of taxes related to income and wealth, at 28.9% of GDP in 2019.
Read 19 tweets
GET A GRIP Profile picture
Jan 4
The revolving door between journalists & 'think tanks' spins almost as quickly as the one between MPs & lobbyists. #Onward is another right-wing lobbying group in the style of, but not quite as extreme as #Tuftonstreet lobbyists.

Money buys influence. Tories represent the rich. Image
Lesser-known 'Onward' is a UK-based 'think tank' producing research, & founded in 2018 by Will Tanner & one of the less ideologically extreme Tory MPs, Neil O'Brien. It is chaired by Danny Finkelstein - a former chairman of the free-market Policy Exchange.
Read 5 tweets
GET A GRIP Profile picture
Jan 3
#THREAD

'Power & coercive control' has an underlying plan: the purposeful, deliberate strategy, used by perpetrators of abuse, to isolate & disempower their victims.

Can insights from domestic & other forms of abuse be applied to the deliberate isolation of Britain? 🇬🇧
Obviously, I'm in no way playing down the very real consequences of abuse in any of the many forms it takes, including physical, emotional, sexual, & neglect.

Anyone suffering any form of abuse, or suspecting others of abuse, should seek help & guidance.

nhs.uk/live-well/gett…
I suggest that the overall strategy of separating & isolating Britain & British people from our European neighbours MAY have some interesting parallels with the strategy of isolating victims of abuse used by perpetrators of abuse in general, & of domestic violence in particular.
Read 18 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

Send Email!

:(