{"id":2871,"date":"2015-01-27T16:15:49","date_gmt":"2015-01-27T16:15:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=2871"},"modified":"2015-01-27T17:06:34","modified_gmt":"2015-01-27T17:06:34","slug":"total-failure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=2871","title":{"rendered":"Total failure"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

One hundred days until the election means one hundred days left of this ConDem government. Back in 2010, they promised us the world. But just how well have they delivered?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

To find out, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve drawn up a 10-point exam, covering all the issues that matter most to us, including housing, the economy, the NHS and more. Here\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s their marked exam \u00e2\u20ac\u201c let the facts speak for themselves.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

1.Balanced books? Failed<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The ConDems are always going on about reducing the deficit and balancing the nation\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s books. Indeed, this was the very reasoning behind their austerity programme that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ravaged the nation and hurt working people the most.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But perhaps the coalition government should have paid more attention in their economics course. After all, since they came to power in 2010, national debt has skyrocketed and now stands at \u00c2\u01411.4 trillion<\/em>. Chancellor George Osborne borrowed more than Labour did in 13 years of government, and he overspent his plans by \u00c2\u0141200bn.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The deficit is still at \u00c2\u014180bn \u00e2\u20ac\u201c an astonishing fact, given that a central Tory election pledge was to balance the books by this year.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2.Better standard of living? Failed<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

If we are to accurately judge how well the ConDems have performed, a basic question we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve put to them in our exam is this \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Are you better off than you were five years ago?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The answer is a resounding \u00e2\u20ac\u015bno\u00e2\u20ac\u0165.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Average households in Britain are now \u00c2\u01411,600-a-year worse off than they were in 2010. With living costs skyrocketing, this has been the first Parliament since the 1920s to preside over a drop, rather than a rise, in living standards.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Despite the Tories promising they had \u00e2\u20ac\u015bno plans\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 for a tax rise, they pulled a fast one, hitting working families hardest with a surprise 20 per cent VAT hike.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

3.Better off at work? Failed<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

One of prime minister Cameron\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s favourite mantras is, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bIf you work hard, you will be rewarded.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Funny how those working hardest in the past five years are instead being punished.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The number of workers trapped in exploitative zero-hour contracts has soared since 2010, totalling about 1.4m. They earn \u00c2\u0141300 a week on average less than permanent workers.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The national minimum wage, currently at \u00c2\u01416.50 an hour, is still far below what Living Wage experts say is the minimum needed to maintain a basic standard of living. And like zero-hour contracts jobs, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been a decided rise in minimum wage jobs, a rise that began precisely as the ConDems came to power.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Anaemic wage growth of the sort we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve experienced over the course of this government would not be as devastating if it weren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t for skyrocketing living costs. Energy bills have soared by a third since 2010, average rents have risen by 13 per cent and water bills have likewise increased by almost 13 per cent.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

4.The NHS? Failed<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The National Health Service is the crown jewel of the welfare state \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the first and last public service we turn to over the course of our lifetimes.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But in the hands of the ConDem government, the NHS as we know it is quickly unravelling.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The health and social care act of 2012, a piece of legislation pushed through with absolutely no mandate from the public, turned into a \u00c2\u01413bn wasted top-down reorganisation that even the Tories themselves admit was a failure.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The act also threw open the floodgates for untrammelled privatisation \u00e2\u20ac\u201c according to the BMA, a third of nearly 3,500 NHS contracts went to private firms after the act went through.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

NHS services are stretched to breaking point \u00e2\u20ac\u201c since 2010, ambulance response time is 25 per cent slower, staff suffering work-related stress is up 40 per cent and the proportion of people who are able to see a GP in 48 hours has plummeted from 80 per cent to 40 per cent.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

5. Passing the education test? Failed<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Education has suffered an indisputable assault under the ConDems, with university students pummelled by \u00c2\u01419,000-a-year tuition fees. The hike was imposed in 2012, despite the LibDems promising, as part of an election pledge, that they would not increase fees.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Younger students just beginning their education now face a system that would have been unrecognisable five years ago \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the number of infants taught in classes of more than 30 pupils skyrocketed by 200 per cent, with more than 13,000 primary school children taught in classes with over 40 children.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Teachers, too, are struggling, as they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve faced real-terms wages cuts year on year since 2010.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

6.Benefits system? Failed<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Under the ConDems, the benefits system has become a labyrinthine, costly mess.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Bedroom Tax, introduced by the Tories in 2012, penalises the most vulnerable. Half a million households, a third of which are disabled, now pay an average of \u00c2\u0141700 extra. More than a half are in rent arrears because of the cruel tax.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Benefits sanctions \u00e2\u20ac\u201c another draconian measure intended to punish those for a failed economy that the ConDems themselves have wrought \u00e2\u20ac\u201c end up starving jobless people and forcing them into food banks.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

7.Families? Failed<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Cameron says the Tory party is the party of family values. But exactly how family friendly is the current government when child poverty has soared by 300,000 under their watch, almost 1m people now turn to food banks, and Sure Start centres have shuttered by 500, despite promises to keep them open?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

8.Big Society? Failed<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Cameron\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s flagship programme, the so-called Big Society, was supposed to infuse the country with a new-found spirit of volunteerism and community. And what happened? Well, nothing.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Nearly 500 public libraries have been closed since 2010, 350 youth centres have been shuttered and bus services, which the young, poor and elderly depend on, have been cut by 50 per cent in some areas.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Even Cameron\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s own former adviser called the Big Society a failure<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

9. Housing us? Failed<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Housing isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t a mere luxury \u00e2\u20ac\u201c it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a basic human need. And more people are in desperate need of housing now than ever before.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Millions flounder on council housing waiting lists as house-building slumps to its lowest peacetime level since the 1920s. More than 3m young people between the ages of 20 and 34 are forced to live with their parents \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a dramatic 16 per cent increase since 2010.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

10. End to sleazy politics? Failed<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Following the expenses scandal, Cameron pledged he would put an \u00e2\u20ac\u015bend to sleaze\u00e2\u20ac\u0165, as noted in this 2008 Telegraph article<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But since his pledge, the sleaze has only proliferated \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Cameron supported notorious expenses fraudster culture secretary Maria Miller shortly before she was forced to resign in 2014. Cameron made sleaze-ball newspaper editor Andy Coulson his head spin doctor before he, too, was forced to resign in 2011, following the phone-hacking scandal.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

And the Tory party as a whole is a shameless club funded by City fat cats<\/a> \u00e2\u20ac\u201c all of whom benefit from underhanded deals that support the rich, while leaving the rest of us high and dry.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s one hundred days until the election today,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Unite assistant general secretary Steve Turner said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bLet\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s remember that this ConDem government has presided over the steepest drop in living standards for average people in centuries. Not since Victorian times have working people endured such repeated attacks.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIn their world, nothing is sacred \u00e2\u20ac\u201c not housing, not our education system, not even the NHS, which today was revealed to be the issue that voters care about most,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bMay\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s election is more than just an election. We are at a crossroads \u00e2\u20ac\u201c do we want five more years of a government that props up the rich at the expense of the rest of us, or do we want the hope of something better?\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Indeed, the stakes have never been higher as the election quickly approaches, which is why it is critical that everyone registers to vote. To find out more, visit Unite and the Mirror\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s campaign, #NoVoteNoVoice here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One hundred days until the election means one hundred days left of this ConDem government. Back in 2010, they promised us the world. But just how well have they delivered?   To find out, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve drawn up a 10-point exam, covering all the issues that matter most to us, including housing, the economy, the NHS […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2876,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[224,44],"wps_subtitle":"Has the Coalition delivered? UNITElive puts them to the test? ","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2871"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2871"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2871\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2874,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2871\/revisions\/2874"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2876"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2871"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2871"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2871"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}