Austerity in the UK: the stock government response
Whenever there is criticism of any aspect of government policy, the response is always the same: we don't agree with the findings. It's about the same as the, "Nya, nya, na, nya, na," of the school playground.
Let's look at the quote from the government spokesperson in this article: “We completely disagree with this analysis. With this government’s changes, household incomes have never been higher, income inequality has fallen, the number of children living in workless households is at a record low, and there are now one million fewer people living in absolute poverty compared with 2010." This after a budget in which married pensioners (to take an example) earning less than £20,000 gained nothing from the changes in income tax, but those earning more than £150,000 gained £143 per month (1).
Rapid Response:
Austerity in the UK: the stock government response
Whenever there is criticism of any aspect of government policy, the response is always the same: we don't agree with the findings. It's about the same as the, "Nya, nya, na, nya, na," of the school playground.
Let's look at the quote from the government spokesperson in this article: “We completely disagree with this analysis. With this government’s changes, household incomes have never been higher, income inequality has fallen, the number of children living in workless households is at a record low, and there are now one million fewer people living in absolute poverty compared with 2010." This after a budget in which married pensioners (to take an example) earning less than £20,000 gained nothing from the changes in income tax, but those earning more than £150,000 gained £143 per month (1).
1 https://www.independent.co.uk/money/tax/budget-2018-tax-tables-selfemplo...
Competing interests: No competing interests