Them & Us

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Benefit sanctions...

Unemployed? Claiming jobseekers' allowance? Desperate to land an interview to prove you're looking for work so you aren't made destitute by benefit sanctions?

Whatever you do, don't attend the interview instead of your job centre appointment. That will get you sanctioned anyway.

This is one of a list of totally senseless benefit sanctions republished by the Independent on 28 October. One claimant lost benefits for missing her signing-on session - because of a job interview.

Another was sanctioned for not completing a work capability assessment. This was because he had a heart attack - in the middle of the assessment.

A successful jobseeker was sanctioned for not looking for work between getting hired and starting the job two weeks later. And many claimants have been punished because they can't afford the fare to job centres or interviews.

...corporate welfare

But if you're a top capitalist, it seems that fouling things up actually wins you more welfare.

Britain's super-rich bosses crashed the economy, slash jobs and pay - and are presiding over an extremely weak 'recovery'. To thank them, the Tories hand out Ł93 billion a year in so-called corporate welfare.

Direct subsidies and grants alone amount to Ł14.5 billion. This is more than enough to reverse Tory chancellor Osborne's latest Ł12 billion welfare cuts for workers.

The Ł93 billion total amounts to over Ł3,500 per household every year. That could have paid for Osborne's tax credit cuts - temporarily forestalled by the Lords - several times over.

Britain's 20% corporation tax rate is below than the global, EU and OECD averages. And it's half the rate in the United States.

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Finance appeal

The coronavirus crisis has laid bare the class character of society in numerous ways. It is making clear to many that it is the working class that keeps society running, not the CEOs of major corporations.

The results of austerity have been graphically demonstrated as public services strain to cope with the crisis.

The government has now ripped up its 'austerity' mantra and turned to policies that not long ago were denounced as socialist. But after the corona crisis, it will try to make the working class pay for it, by trying to claw back what has been given.

The Socialist Party's material is more vital than ever, so we can continue to report from workers who are fighting for better health and safety measures, against layoffs, for adequate staffing levels, etc.
When the health crisis subsides, we must be ready for the stormy events ahead and the need to arm workers' movements with a socialist programme - one which puts the health and needs of humanity before the profits of a few.

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