Jeremy Corbyn responds to the UK Spending Review: Endless money for war and misery for millions
Until this government stands up to the corporate elite holding our country to ransom, it will never bring about the change the British public deserves, writes Jeremy Corbyn MP in response to the spending review.
Today, 4.3 million children are growing up in poverty in the sixth richest country in the world, yet our government still refuses to scrap the two-child benefit cap, one of the leading causes of child poverty in this country. Meanwhile, disabled people are living in fear over the government’s disgraceful welfare cuts. Are we meant to have forgotten and moved on?
The government could, if it wanted to, tax the wealthiest in our society in order to end child poverty, fix the social care crisis, and fund a bold programme of public investment. It could end the rip-off of privatisation and finally bring water and energy and healthcare into public ownership. It could take on fossil fuel giants to kickstart a Green New Deal. Instead, today’s unambitious statement bakes in decades of inequality, depriving millions of people of the resources they need.
As we speak, a quarter of a million people are homeless. For many of my constituents, the never-ending promise of “affordable housing” has been a complete con. The government must tell us: will its latest announcement result in proper social housing or subsidies for private developers? When will it get to the heart of the housing crisis and control rents?
Having enough food to eat and living without fear of eviction. That is what real security means. Instead, the government continues to find endless money for weapons of war. As conflict rages around the world, the government needs to wake up, end its complicity in genocide and stop fuelling the wars of today and tomorrow.
The best path to security is equality, sustainability and peace. This kinder future is possible. We just need the political will – and we will keep campaigning for a redistribution of wealth, ownership and power so that everyone can live in dignity.
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‘The Spending Review didn’t go far enough to deal with child poverty’
This week’s Spending Review simply didn’t go far enough to deal with child poverty. Especially in constituencies like Bradford East. My community was decimated by 14 years of Tory austerity cuts, something I see the effects of with my own eyes.
A recent survey by Loughborough University for the End Child Poverty Coalition showed that in Bradford East, over half of all children are growing up in poverty. That’s a deeply shocking statistic. The futures of our children are being quietly stolen in plain sight.
Child poverty is not just a statistic—it is a national disgrace. It is a moral failure of political choices that have left families behind.
And frankly, the financial statement this week didn’t go far enough to start pulling children out of poverty in my constituency. In the debate, I pushed the Chancellor to explain what more the Government plans to do to alleviate and eliminate child poverty.
Scrapping the two child benefit cap
I told the Chancellor that the Government needs to take real action. Although she described Tory austerity as destructive, this Government is still rolling it out through the two-child benefit cap. It puts 109 children into poverty every day, according to the Child Poverty Action Group.
That’s 109 children whose futures are being needlessly placed at risk. 109 families pushed into hardship through no fault of their own.
Struggling families won’t be helped until the two-child limit—the single biggest driver of rising child poverty—is scrapped. That must now happen in the Autumn Budget. Until we do that, this policy will continue to push thousands of children in my constituency and across the country into hardship. And that is unacceptable.
Because the truth is simple: we cannot tackle child poverty by tinkering at the edges. We will not fix a broken system by balancing the books on the backs of the poorest.
Too often we’re told we can’t afford to invest in children. But the truth is, we can’t afford not to. A society that fails its children is a society that pays for that failure again and again through higher demand on our health services, schools, housing, and the justice system.
That’s why I’ve consistently spoken out in Parliament to fight against punitive cuts to welfare that push families further into poverty. I’ve made clear that I will not support any measures that worsen inequality or remove the lifelines struggling households rely on.
An important shift
At the same time, I’ve called for a 2% tax on wealth over £10 million—a fair and proportionate measure that would raise £24 billion a year. That’s money we should use to fund the services our communities desperately need and invest in a future where no child is left behind.
There were parts of the financial statement that were better. The pledge to extend free school meals to an extra 500,000 children is a welcome step and one that could lift 100,000 children out of poverty. That is some progress.
The £2.4 billion to rebuild our crumbling school buildings is also a necessary move after years of Tory neglect. So too is the additional £1.6 billion to expand government-funded childcare. These are measures that will make a difference in homes across Bradford and beyond.
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The Government also announced £39 billion to build affordable and social housing— something I’ve long campaigned for as part of fixing the housing crisis—and £2.1 billion in transport investment, which includes backing for a new tram line in West Yorkshire that would be transformative for connectivity and opportunity in our region.
But we must keep perspective. These investments are welcome. They represent an important shift from the ideological Tory austerity of the last decade.
Child poverty is not inevitable but if we do not act, then it will remain a stain on our society.
Because if we are serious about levelling up opportunity, if we are serious about ending inequality, and if we truly believe in fairness then no child in this country should be left behind.
We must go further. We must scrap the two-child limit. We must stop the planned cuts to disability support. And we must build a system that invests in people from the very start so that every child, regardless of postcode or background, has the opportunity to thrive.
That is how we build a stronger society. And that is how we begin to right the wrongs of the last 14 years.
For their sake, we must get it right.
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