The growing polarisation in Britain today

We are currently seeing a growing polarisation of opinion, wealth, opportunity and pay i'm afraid to say. It really does feel like we are being taken back in time to a earlier time in history.

I was borin in the late 80's did not experience Thatcher and her horrors but am quickly becoming acustom in what it must have been like today in 2011. As we see our living standards stagnate or fall in many cases there is a growing feeling that the poor aare getting poorer and the rich are getting richer. This is being helped through by yet another tory government headed by a cabinet of millionaires .


The government's measures amount to the biggest single attack on the living standards of the British working class for 80 years.

The Independent, basing itself upon the figures of the Institute of Fiscal Studies, claims they are the deepest cuts since the 1970s.

But this is not true. In 1976, to receive an IMF loan of £2.3 billion, the then Labour government cut £2.5 billion from public expenditure, equivalent to no more than £20 billion today.

Osborne wants to impose an £81 billion slash and burn programme over four years. Indicating his determination to push through his brutal measures Osborne has let it be known that there is no 'plan B' to fall back on if his proposals are not accepted.

This is bravado on his and the government's part. But the British ruling class has a tried and tested policy of bending with the wind. Whenever they have confronted a determined mass movement which is prepared to go to the end of the struggle against them they have often retreated.

Sometimes, they throw overboard the 'general' whose plans have been thwarted. This was the fate of Margaret Thatcher in the mighty poll-tax battle which she lost and as a result was subsequently ejected from office.

Such an outcome in this battle is not to be excluded. This is a government of liars, who have no mandate - the Liberal Democrats are doing exactly the opposite of what they promised before the general election - and deserves to be driven from office.

But on the other hand this is only possible on the basis of determined policies matched by bold leadership.

We cannot rely on a labour party traditionally known as defenders of the poor. New labour have transformed themselves into apologists of the city and big business
We cannot rely on Labour to oppose the cuts and austerity to the poor and workers.
Moreover, Alistair Darling, previously New Labour's chancellor, has admitted that the cuts that would have been inflicted if New Labour had been re-elected would have been more severe than Margaret Thatcher's when she was in power.

From the outset, this government has pursued a policy of 'shock and awe'. There are many who naively believe that these are always 'somebody else's cuts', in a situation like this.


A recent survey of top 100 FTSE chief executives has shown that in the last year these bosses have received, on average, 50% pay rises. Top company boss Martin Sorrell had the brass neck to complain that his £1 million basic salary was "very low"!

This at a time when many workers have had to endure pay freezes especially in the public sector. In some cases, such as Southampton City and Hampshire county council, workers face pay cuts. Most of these workers are already some of the lowest paid. In the private sector as well, those who have received any pay rises have seen them more than wiped out by price inflation.

It's a disgrace that the parasites at the top can award themselves such huge rises while at the same time calling for further cuts in public spending, leading to more job losses and attacks on workers' terms and conditions.

The fat cats have tried to defend themselves by claiming that their salaries and bonuses are set by independent pay review boards. But the bosses sit on each others' review boards where they recommend huge pay increases for each other!

They have even claimed that their massive pay rises are down to 'performance', yet the system they head is in crisis. If their pay is linked to performance they should be paying us for the mess they've created!

Cameron and Clegg have expressed 'concern' over pay inequalities but working class people won't be fooled by this. The Con-Dems are determined to make the poorest people in society pay for the bankers' greed and the failures of capitalism.

The growing polarisation in society really is starting to grow now. With peoples opinions eitehr falling in the have's or have nots. There is a growing feeling that we are not all in this together as the tories would have us believe . The poor will not take this laying down and will fight back.
I was listening to a programme on BBC 5 live last night and a debate in a church in Birmingham with Edwina Currie claiming taht she doesnt beleive we have real povety in Britain today she thinks its all down to peoples choices and lazy attitudes to not work. Well if there were the jobs there in the first place Edwina maybe we could all find jobs. But jobs that pay a decent living wage should be our aim not just jobs for jobs sake.