Surprise, surprise! An independent study has shown that the UK's conservative government has been driving a massive transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich:
A landmark study of the coalition’s tax and welfare policies six months before the general election reveals how money has been transferred from the poorest to the better off, apparently refuting the chancellor of the exchequer’s claims that the country has been “all in it together”.
According to independent research to be published on Monday and seen by the Observer, George Osborne has been engaged in a significant transfer of income from the least well-off half of the population to the more affluent in the past four years. Those with the lowest incomes have been hit hardest.
[...]
The report also claims that the transfer of funds from the poorest half of the country to the more affluent did not contribute to deficit reduction.
It says: “The revenue gains from some tax changes and benefit cuts were offset by the cost of tax reductions, particularly the increase in the income tax personal allowance.”
So, the bankers fuck up the economy, then their get their government to steal from the poor to pay them for it.
There is a name for this: class warfare. And the sooner we recognise what it is and call it by its name, the sooner we can fight it.
(Meanwhile, I'd love to see a similar analysis of the Key government's regressive "tax switch" (which lowered taxes on the rich while raising GST on the poor) and austerity programmes. While its unlikely to have been as extreme as the UK version, its the same underlying tactic at play: making the least well-off pay for the continued prosperity of the few).
