AS George Osborne delivers his Autumn Statement, the Young Greens have criticised the government’s commitment to austerity politics.
Georgia Elander, of the Young Greens’ National Committee, said:
“It’s clear that austerity isn’t working for anyone. The government borrowing forecast for this year has been raised from almost £87bn to £91.3bn, and Danny Alexander has attributed this to falling tax receipts due to people being in lower-paid jobs. Meanwhile, young people across the country are struggling to get by on low wages and zero-hour contracts, seeing their benefits stripped away, and being forced into workfare in order to claim any welfare at all.
"This isn’t good for the economy, young people, or the rest of the country. George Osborne’s dogged insistence on pursuing the spending cuts and deficit reduction policies of the last five years, despite their clear failure, illustrates this government’s dangerous ideological commitment to austerity. Osborne’s continued refusal, too, to raise taxes on the wealthiest in society shows once again that this government operates for the benefit not of the many but of the wealthy few. The Green Party would implement a wealth tax on the top 1% and a financial transaction tax, to make sure that it is the richest individuals and corporations and not the poorest who contribute the most to funding vital public services.”
The Young Greens welcomed the government’s pledge to invest £150m into treatment for children who suffer from self harm and eating disorders, but said that plans do not go far enough.
“Mental health provision in this country is grossly underfunded, and while this funding pledge is a step in the right direction, much more needs to be done. We need to improve access to mental health services, and work to remove the stigma around mental health, so that children and young people with depression and other mental health problems can be diagnosed and treated before they resort to self-injury.
This government’s cuts to the NHS has had an appalling effect on mental health services, with recent figures showing that since 2012 seven mental health patients have committed suicide after being told that there were no hospital beds for them. (1) Cuts to Local Authority budgets have hit counselling services hard, meaning that patients have to be a lot more ill before they can be given treatment - and by this point, a lot more treatment is needed. (2)
The government’s austerity measures are also having a wider impact on young people’s mental health, with low wages, unemployment and welfare cuts leading to an increase in stress, depression and suicide. (3)
While this £150m pledge shows that the government has accepted the need for better mental health provision, it is clear that they do not recognise the scale of the problem, or the need to tackle the root causes of mental health problems.”
During her Q&A with young voters on Leaders Live last week, party leader Natalie Bennett announced that mental health provision would be a key priority in the Green Party’s 2015 manifesto.
Plans to make loans of up to £10,000 available for post-graduate studies were also welcomed as a step in the right direction, but the Young Greens have criticised this government’s failure to improve access to higher education, saying:
“While the provision of loans for post-graduate studies is an improvement on the current system, this does not change the fact that all students will leave university saddled with crippling debt. This government has presided over a huge rise in tuition fees and is allowing the continuing marketisation of the education system.”
Last month the Young Greens marched alongside thousands of students in London to demand free education and an end to education cuts.
http://www.jrf.org.uk/austerity-birmingham