LABOUR have done “nothing” to reverse Tory “social murder” policies, according to a leading expert on austerity.
David Walsh, a public health expert at Glasgow University, has said there appears to be a lack of “political will” in Westminster to axe Tory welfare policies he argues reduced life expectancy in the UK.
Walsh was speaking at Strathclyde University on Monday night for the launch of his new book Social Murder? Austerity and Life Expectancy in the UK, co-authored with fellow Glasgow academic Gerry McCartney.
The book argues that policies such as benefit sanctions and cuts resulted in life expectancy falling and death rates increasing in the most deprived parts of the UK.
Walsh (below) said that Glasgow had previously been a “bit of a success story” in improving life expectancy – before the “extraordinary, unprecedented reversal” he said came as a result of punitive policies on benefit claimants.
Austerity “fundamentally changed” the UK, argued Walsh, including the greatly increased use of food banks, which he said had previously been a minor phenomenon.
The book puts forward what Walsh and McCartney said were “evidence-based” solutions to combat falling life expectancy – which boiled down to reversing Tory welfare policies.
Walsh said: “We now have a different Government in power, so hopefully maybe things will all just be peachy. Except that the signs aren’t particularly great.
“The most recent Budget suggests maybe a little bit more money for services but in terms of the cuts to social security, which have so hammered the poorest and most vulnerable in society, nothing is being reversed.”
Labour have pledged to get more people off benefits and into work, with Keir Starmer (above) committing to Tory plans to trim the welfare bill by £1.3 billion from the benefits bill annually.
Their plans have been met with warnings from disability campaigners, including the charity Scope which said announcements last month to slash welfare spending would cause “a huge amount of anxiety”.
The UK Government was approached for comment.
