Is slashing UK welfare benefits the answer to Britain's economic woes?

 

France and Germany are far more productive countries than Britain and also have higher levels of corporation tax and tax in general. Compared to Japan, Britain's national debt pales into insignificance, and Japan is a far richer and more technologically advanced country than Britain. Britain had a much higher national debt after WWII than it does today, but it didn't pay it off, by imposing austerity, it grew the economy. America is also massively in debt. 

Britain has been plagued with low investment and low productivity for decades. During the early 1970s, the Conservatives used to blame everything on Labour and socialism and not welfare spending. They were keen to join the Common Market and so was the Daily Mail. 

The Germans and French can produce more in four days than Britain can in five days. Their state pensions are far more generous than the British New State Pension which is about half the National Minimum Wage or £6 an hour for a 40 hour working week. The Old State Retirement Pension is even less generous. British workers often work longer before they retire than do French workers and have a longer working week. The French and Germans also have a more generous welfare state and so does Sweden and Norway, which have high levels of taxes and corporation tax. They're not what you would call poor countries. The Swedes and Norwegians probably enjoy a better standard of living than many British people. 

How much money have the British government saved by increasing the women's state retirement age from 60 to 67? How much money have they saved by increasing the male state retirement age from 65 to 67? How much money did they save by ending free TV licenses for the over 75s or linking free bus passes to the stage retirement age?  

I think many of us in Britain are quite appalled at the way in which British governments squander public money. During the COVID lockdown, the former Conservative government of Boris Johnson, dished out willy-nilly, tens of millions in government contracts to VIP Tories for faulty PPE equipment that was never used. How many millions have they recovered from PPE Medpro who were awarded £200 million in government contracts? The Conservative peer Baroness Michelle Mone and her husband Douglas Barrowman, were involved in this scandal. When they were ordered by a court to repay money, PPE Modpro, simply declared insolvency.

How many billions did the Johnson government squander on its abortive Rwanda scheme? No illegal migrant was ever sent there. How much public money are the British government spending to house and financially support illegal migrants who have come to Britain who haven't been granted asylum?  

It wasn't long ago that the Labour Chancellor, Rachel 'freeze' Reeves, told us that Britain couldn't afford the pensioners winter fuel allowance and she needed to save £5bn by means testing it. They then found £11bn to help foreign developing countries to cope with climate change. The Ukrainians are always being bunged money by the British government. The Ukrainians have every right to defend themselves, but it doesn't mean that the British have to pay for it or die for it. They're now talking up a war with Russia and telling us that we must do our duty to protect our country and that young people might have to die for their country. I'm sure they'll be happy to hear that.

Nowadays, many British people don't feel that they've got a country or one that's worth defending. They feel alienated and abandoned. And how are we going to pay for a war, if Britain's got no money and is massively in debt?