Conservative MPs, both leavers and remainers, inflicted this misery on Britain – only defeating Toryism can stop it
At least one in 200 people in Britain – one of the wealthiest nations that has ever existed – is homeless. Last year there was the biggest rise in child poverty for three decades. Benefit claimants have had their state support stopped – “sanctioned” – for attending a funeral, for missing a jobcentre appointment after being hit by a car, and – in the case of one 60-year-old army veteran – for selling poppies for the Royal Legion, thus allegedly showing he wasn’t trying hard enough to look for work. One woman I met had to pay the bedroom tax after her daughter died: she now had a spare room, you see. These are random examples of the institutionalised cruelty of austerity Britain. You cannot understand the political turmoil now afflicting Britain without understanding these injustices. That’s not to claim that all of those battered by austerity voted for Brexit – they certainly did not – but as one academic study found this year, its impact was decisive in winning the vote for leave.
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Metaling like a boss 