Them & Us

Them and us fishes, photo Suzanne Beishon (Click to enlarge)

Money for cutters...

Privateers responsible for forcing disabled people off benefits have collected �578 million for the privilege.

This sum - paid to outsourcers Atos and Capita - is actually �66 million higher than originally estimated. There's that private sector efficiency for you.

Half a billion for bullying the vulnerable into penury. A figure Corbyn should remind the Tories of in the run-up to the general election.

...cuts for carers

Meanwhile, the average spend on elderly care has fallen by �142 per adult since the Tories came to power. The Institute for Fiscal Studies says six in seven councils have cut adult care.

Kicking out the Tories could make it possible to sort this out. But Corbyn must instruct Labour councils to stand up to Tory cuts whatever the result.

�15m for Hunt...

Tory health secretary Jeremy Hunt picked up �14.5 million from the sale of an education database firm he co-founded.

The windfall could well have made him the richest in Theresa May's cabinet of millionaires. Meanwhile, the Institute for Fiscal Studies predicts workers' wages will be lower in 2021 than they were in 2008.

...crisis for A&Es

At the same time, the service Hunt runs - the NHS - had to turn away ambulances from A&Es nearly 500 times last winter. This is nearly twice the number of refusals of the previous winter.

While the government and its paymasters grow richer, the NHS continues to collapse. After Corbyn's well-received appearance at the 4 March NHS demo, coming out for reversal of all NHS cuts could seriously damage the Tories.

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