Where did Gideon find £7 Billion?

Avatar

OsborneDiary of a Benefit Scrounger

By Sue Marsh

Under the bed?

In a long forgotten tin on the sideboard?

In a winter coat pocket not checked since last year?

Do politicians really have to make their contempt for us so clear?

We have just spent five months being told daily that there is no money left, Labour spent all the money, we’re on the brink of bankruptcy, we’re all in this together. In the name of patriotic duty, we are told that disabled people must lose their dignity, hospices for dying cancer patients must be closed, Legal Aid must be slashed and schools should not be built, yet we apparently have a few billion lying around here and there to loan to another country to alleviate their debt.

The reality is, that we will borrow the £7 Billion and add it into the vast trillion or so we owe already, effectively paying interest on Ireland’s debt for her. We are borrowing the money on her behalf, as she can’t get credit.

So, just to be clear, the banks took stupid risks with our money and went bust. We gave them over £800 Billion to stay solvent, and they will be taxed just £2.5 Billion back through the bonus tax. They are awarding themselves billions in bonuses for spectacular failure and they still expect us to find billions any time another financial crisis looms, Meanwhile, our wages and benefits are frozen, VAT will go up, our poor are to be evicted, our university funding will be decimated and nurses, doctors, paramedics, fire-fighters and police officers will lose their jobs.

Are we honestly going to put up with this for much longer?

Are we really going to keep on believing that “There Is No Alternative” and allow the caveat “unless you’re a bank, PLC or politician?”

If anyone is going to bother telling me that actually we had no choice, Ireland going bust would have damaged us much more, it’s in our interests to help such a close neighbour blah, blah, blah, blah. Just don’t bother. I heard it all when the banks failed initially and I reject totally the suggestion that foolish, greedy businessmen are more worth saving than the people who look after their children, empty their bins and care for their elderly parents in five star care homes.

More from LabourList

DONATE HERE

We provide our content free, but providing daily Labour news, comment and analysis costs money. Small monthly donations from readers like you keep us going. To those already donating: thank you.

If you can afford it, can you join our supporters giving £10 a month?

And if you’re not already reading the best daily round-up of Labour news, analysis and comment…

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR DAILY EMAIL