UK Conservative Welfare/Social Security Cuts – Government Propaganda

It seemed like the first thing the coalition government of the Conservatives and the Lib Dems announced is that they would be cutting social security benefits (see links below).

This serves 2 agendas which have……nothing to do with the government saving money.

1. Creating Public Guilt About Government Cuts – The government deliberately targets the weakest in society when it announces any cuts in the size of the state. This serves the simple purpose of making the average man in the street feel guilty that they are giving less money to those who are in need.

The government propaganda tells us that when the government is looking to cut spending, the weakest in society are the ones who are first to feel it. People in the UK know this is how the government works so automatically people are less likely to call for government cuts, whether it is a sub consciously or consciously.

Here are some articles which highlight the cuts the government will make, which are targeted at the weakest in society.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/9012492/Labour-David-Cameron-must-urgently-rethink-unfair-child-benefit-cuts.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/joepublic/2011/jun/07/labour-take-careful-aim-at-cuts

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/mar/25/public-sector-cuts-where-will-they-hit

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/mar/25/public-sector-cuts

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jan/13/david-cameron-cynical-propaganda

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jan/12/welfare-cuts-cameron

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jan/05/social-security-reforms-welfare-cuts

This article covers the proposed cuts. One thing to note in this article, the departments listed have a total budget of 387.8Billion GBP and the total budget of the government is 697 Billion GBP. There are 309.2 Billion GBP worth of government departments not effected by these supposed budget cuts.

If you would like a more in-depth breakdown of where you tax money goes, this is an excellent website

http://www.ukpublicspending.co.uk/year_spending_2008UKbn_11bc1n_103090700040808s47713382

and this is a graphical piece done by the Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2010/may/17/uk-public-spending-departments-money-cuts

You will notice that there is a large discrepancy between the total government spending figures in the Guardian and the figures in the ukpublicspending website, if you know why, please leave a comment below.

Going back to how social security cuts are the cuts that make the news. Social security savings should be the last things that get cut. There are many other organisation that performance absolutely no purpose and cost billions yet the government says small cuts are the answer not abolition.

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2. Cuts To Social Security Acts As A Distraction From Departments Which Are Untouched – If the government was truly interested in getting the taxpayer on board for the spending cuts it would leave social security and welfare out of the cuts, if nothing else to stop the bad publicity.

The fact that social security cuts are always headline news shows either the government is happy to create resistance to their plans or the cuts are used as a distraction away from the departments which are being left unscathed by the government cuts.

Departments Which Should Be Eliminated

DTI/BERR. Nobody’s lives depends on the DTI/BERR and if they do, it is because their business is being propped up by the taxpayer so why exactly does the business need to exist? I know of no business owner who says they could not live without the DTI/BERR.

Department of Energy/DECC, again, why do we need this? There was no Departnment of Energy prior to 1974 and it’s purpose was to reduce the UKs dependency of foergin oil, somethig which it has failed to do.

Also the energy sector in the UK is privatised amongst massive companies, what possible involvement can the government have that is beneficial to the people? Is central planning not a key aspect of communism?

If you want any extra evidence that the Department of Energy/DECC is a communist organ check out their website, I was expecting the “funding” link tell me about where they get their money from but no, it tells you how you can get the government to take money from other taxpayers to give to you. A classic example of redistribution of wealth based on how you can get the government to work for you rather than doing something that is of value to other people.

The Department of Agriculture/DEFRA, a department that makes the lives of farmers in the UK immensely difficult with regulations.

Some might argue that the Department of Agriculture/DEFRA performs and important part in disease control. But you have to ask why? Is the government saying that without their involvement farmers and businesses will be accepting potentially infected animals if the government was not there to stop them from committing an act of financial suicide?

The Department of Education could be eliminated. There is no reason why local councils cannot raise their own funds to pay for local education. Some might say there are economies of scale with a government department.

I have yet to see any business that operates well in a monopoly that is not vulnerable to competitors. Let councils combine their education departments if they want but the massive centralised bureaucracy that is the department of Education is a huge waste of money that would be better spent on a local level.

You think it is unrealistic to eliminate Department of Energy/DECC, DEFRA to Department of Education?

DECC – The UK coped fine without it until 1974.

The BERR, if you needed any evidence that people in the UK could live without the BERR take a look at this. The BERR does nothing that could not be achieved by a simple reduction in taxes of business.

How could the UK function without DEFRA? This is what Wikipedia says

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is the government department responsible for environmental protection, food production and standards, agriculture, fisheries and rural communities in the United Kingdom.

There is nothing that DEFRA does that the private sector food production industry does not do or want to do already. If companies give their customers dangerous food they go out of business. That is the ultimate regulation.

And on top of that there is a massive demand for independent businesses to asses the quality and safety of products, just look a Which Magazine. Not only does Which magazine test products for safety they also check them for quality, a far superior service to anything offered by the government.

 

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