Austerity Is Making Us Sick
Rishi Sunak’s rhetoric around ‘sick note culture’ is a transparent attempt to blame workers for government policies that have pushed millions of us into poverty and ill health.
18 Articles by:
Chris Thomas
Chris Thomas is a research fellow at the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR).
Renewing Bevan’s Vision
If the NHS is to survive, we must set out an agenda that not only defends it but aims to expand its mandate to new arenas.
How to Make Social Care Better
The aim of government social care policy can’t just be to restore the pre-pandemic status-quo – it should be to turn social care into a service capable of transforming the lives of those who use it.
How Decades of Neoliberalism Left the NHS on the Brink
NHS waiting lists in England have hit a record high. This isn’t just an unavoidable outcome of Covid-19 – it’s the consequence of years of neoliberal health policy.
How Britain’s Growing Inequality Left Poorer People to Die During Covid-19
New analysis shows that Covid-19 mortality was 25 percent higher in parts of England which were poorer and more impacted by austerity – exposing the government’s myth that the pandemic was a ‘great equaliser.’
Racism Is Not a Culture War Toy – It’s a Fact of Life in Britain
On Windrush Day, the Tory government is once again downplaying the importance of racism in British society – but the evidence is clear: racism remains embedded in the institutions that structure daily life.
Inequality Is Bad for Your Health
As Britain emerges from lockdown, the government is projecting an image of optimism – but inequality was at crisis levels long before Covid-10 and poverty can be as bad for public health as any pandemic.
A Country Fit for Carers
After the First World War, David Lloyd George promised ‘a fit country for heroes.’ The carers at the frontline of Covid-19 deserve the same commitment – because when Britain looks after our health system, we all benefit.
Years in the Making
The NHS crisis didn’t begin with Covid-19 — years of outsourcing, competitiveness reforms, and obsessions over ‘efficiency’ have decimated the public health service.
1% Is Not Enough – It’s Time for NHS Pay Justice
After clapping for NHS staff and calling them heroes, the government is proposing to give nurses a pay increase of just £3.50 per week – it’s time for a real reward that would end hardship in our health service.
The Government Has Failed to Inoculate Against Social Inequality
The government is pinning all of its hopes on vaccine rollout – but by refusing to take effective measures to ensure the lower-paid can stay home in the meantime, they are guaranteeing further weeks of Covid disaster.
You Can’t Tackle Health Inequality Without Tackling Social Injustice
The 2020 Marmot Review shows the impact of health inequality in England’s Covid deaths. Challenging it will require a new kind of health policy – one that looks beyond the NHS to broader social ills.
How Health Inequality Drove Britain’s Covid Disaster
Britain has been one of the world’s worst hit states for Covid-19 deaths, and it’s no accident. Public health cuts have left deep inequalities – and the areas most impacted have the highest death tolls.
How the Government Could Mess Up the Vaccine Like it Did Covid
The coming vaccine has Britain dreaming of post-Covid life – but the Tory government’s record on messaging, test and trace, and protecting the vulnerable doesn’t bode well for the roll-out.
How Market Ideology Destroyed Resilience in our NHS
Corporate management tactics – and the mantra to ‘do more with less’ – claimed to be cutting waste from the NHS, but what they actually cut was resilience and its ability to deal with crises like Covid-19.
A Decade of Austerity Ruined Britain – We Can’t Afford a Repeat
Today marks 10 years since the first Coalition austerity budget. The last decade showed that austerity can be worse for the economy than any recession – but the government is determined to ignore the lesson.
No Exit Strategy Without Healthcare Workers
The NHS was already in crisis before coronavirus, now research shows 300,000 of its workers want to leave – any end to the lockdown has to put their safety first, and commit to real investment in improving conditions.
A Sympathetic Establishment Won’t Save Us
The portrayal of Aberfan in Netflix’s ‘The Crown’ teaches the audience to judge the establishment based on its reaction to working-class disasters – rather than its complicity in their causes.