Spending cuts will hit the poorest 13 times harder than the richest, claims TUC

New research by the Trades Union Congress (TUC) claims the UK’s poorest 10% of the population will be hit 13 times harder by the spending cuts than the wealthiest 10%.

New research by the Trades Union Congress (TUC) claims the UK’s poorest 10% of the population will be hit 13 times harder by the spending cuts than the wealthiest 10%.
The claim, made in the report Where the Money Goes, shows the bottom 10% of the population will suffer reductions in services equivalent to 20% of their household income.
The research was published on the eve of the TUC’s conference starting today and claims the richest 10% of the population will suffer the loss of only 1.5% of their income when the cuts hit.
The full impact of the cuts will be revealed in the Government’s comprehensive spending review on October 20th, but Chancellor George Osborne described the cuts so far outlined in the emergency Budget in June as ‘tough but fair’.
The report, carried out for the TUC and UNISON by economists Howard Reed and Tim Horton, warned lone parents and single pensioner are set to lose the most, while childless couples are set to lose the least.
The study also claims the North-South divide will be reinforced – households in the North East will lose services equivalent to 6% of their household income, while Londoners will lose less than 4%.
The TUC will today debate a motion on taking joint industrial action against the cuts.
TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: ”Coalition ministers say their policies are progressive.  They have promised that they wil protect the vulnerable, not increase inequality and will not open up a new North-South divide.
”Yet today’s figures show exactly the opposite.  This is classic doublethink.  They might say progressive, but these cuts will make the poll tax look as if it was dreamed up by Robin Hood.
”Each day it becomes clearer that there are alternative ways to drive down the deficit and that these deep cuts not only threaten services, but risk economic recovery.
”The only conclusion is that the Government is making a political choice, not following economic necessity.  But voters last May did not vote for a radical and permanent cutback in the scale and scope of public services.”

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