After the excitement of Jeremy Corbyn and the rumours of David Cameron having sexual relations with a pig, it seems we are back to reality – and an unpleasant one at that. All over the news and the front pages of newspapers we have seen the increased debacle on tax credits. The “party of the working people” (the Tories if that wasn’t obvious…) are yet again cutting more money from working class families while making the rich richer. It’s the same old story.
Tax credits are top-ups to workers’ pay because their earnings are not enough to live on for them and their families. Back in May, David Cameron made a “promise” to not cut tax credits if he was elected Prime Minister. Now we know this was a lie. Three million families will be affected by having £1350 slashed from their annual income. It would seem this tenuous promise was just to get the Tories back into power – as feminist Gloria Steinem said, “evil is obvious only in retrospect.”
(Photo Credit: www.bbc.co.uk)
It’s difficult for me to pretend that I didn’t think this would happen back in May, but then again, I am very cynical. Instead of the Tories being a party for working people, workers are being kicked in the teeth. While before there was the demonization of people who don’t work, we now have, as Jeremy Corbyn has called it, a “workers’ penalty.” The constant lying just reminds me of the scraping of the EMA allowance back in 2010 and Nick Clegg’s promise that student tuition fees wouldn’t rise – ending in an embarrassing apology which was ultimately made into a viral video.
These cuts affect everyone, and especially students. We have seen a rise in tuition fees and cuts to our maintenance grants, which leads us to question – do we get any help from the government with money? Our loans are arguably not enough to live on, all down to the myth that parents can help subsidize their children. This is very rarely the case. Many of us will end up with low paid jobs straight after our degrees and low paid workers are the ones being hit. It doesn’t seem fair that Tory supporter Rupert Murdoch can fraternise with Jerry Hall without a worry, while there are families worried about whether they can eat today. The Tories need to stop protecting the rich if they truly are the “party of the working people,” because that statement just seems laughable.