UK 'welfare-to-work policies' ruining lives while private vultures profit

This government has blood on its hands. It’s ironic that the whilst the news this week proves that debate about whether the banks can be regulated more effectively, which has been going on since the economic crisis started in 2008, has changed absolutely nothing, ordinary people around the world are suffering untold human costs as the crisis continue to be used as an excuse to implement neoliberal reforms and attack living conditions.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jul/03/cruel-welfare-system-private-firms 

As the mainstream media expresses its shock and outrage that an investment bank might be motivated by greed, and take short cuts in order to make more money, the Con Dem government’s policies are quietly ruining the lives of hundreds of thousands of people around the UK.

The British welfare system has never in its history undergone a reform like the one that is currently going on: millions of people face being driven into poverty, including the ‘working poor’: people who have a job but still rely on benefits in order to survive. The rug is being swept from under their feet.

This article by John Harris, and the video it links to, give an insight into the human costs of the changes, and the companies that are making millions from spreading misery. It also lays down a challenge to us as trade unionists committed to social justice: what are we going to do about it?

PK