{"id":68282,"date":"2023-03-06T08:53:31","date_gmt":"2023-03-06T08:53:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/?p=68282"},"modified":"2023-03-06T08:53:31","modified_gmt":"2023-03-06T08:53:31","slug":"insecurity-is-the-biggest-problem-this-country-faces-and-our-politicians-are-ignoring-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/2023\/03\/06\/insecurity-is-the-biggest-problem-this-country-faces-and-our-politicians-are-ignoring-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Insecurity is the biggest problem this country faces and our politicians are ignoring it"},"content":{"rendered":"

As I have already mentioned<\/a>, yesterday's poll on whether a new left-of-centre party is needed<\/a> to replace Labout now that it has relocated itself on the centre-right was a success.<\/p>\n

I was disappointed that supporters of both Labour and the Greens were disparaging of the poll.<\/p>\n

I suppose I should not have been about Labour supporters: I presume that those commenting are from the centre-right.<\/p>\n

My problem with the Greens is that they fail to present the big picture. I wish it were otherwise. I have known the party for a long time, and some who have been leaders in it for coming on for forty years, so I am obviously sympathetic. But it has never managed to break out of the limited appeal that it self-defined for itself. That is its problem, and fundamental as green issues and sustainability are I do not think they are the sole focus of concern right now.<\/p>\n

In that case I think I need to be clear about what that key issue is. It is, in my opinion, insecurity. That, I think, trumps both sustainability and inequality. The reason is straightforward: this is the fundamental malaise that threatens so many in the UK right now and will continue to do so unless something is done to address it.<\/p>\n

People have insecure jobs because of government policy.<\/p>\n

Millions are unsure whether they can afford to live in their homes, and that is the result of deliberate government policy.<\/p>\n

Millions more are not sure that they will ever afford a home.<\/p>\n

Others are in personal debt that they do not know how to manage, largely because their wages are too low so they have no savings and cannot, therefore, manage crises.<\/p>\n

Others are insecure about their right to live in the UK.<\/p>\n

And many, many millions are frightened to take a full and active part in their communities because of the hostile environment fostered by a government that has always sought to sow division and has refused to invest in protecting people from its consequences.<\/p>\n

There are also those who long for families and are denied them by combinations of the above issues.<\/p>\n

Add to that, there is fear now of illness, which creates more insecurity and also ill-health.<\/p>\n

And old age is now a cause for insecurity, most especially amongst those who have no choice but to stop working before the official retirement age, where there is a cluster of deepening poverty and massive insecurity now, which government policy on retirement can only make worse.<\/p>\n

The common theme here is insecurity, which fuels fear and so ill health.<\/p>\n

Insecurity is the political crisis of the 2020s. And nowhere do I see politicians talking about it.<\/p>\n

The Tories fuel it. They see insecurity as the breeding ground for their far-right support.<\/p>\n

Labour resorts to managerialism.<\/p>\n

As has the SNP.<\/p>\n

And although other parties do better they have not tackled this core issue, in my opinion.<\/p>\n

Until they do then of course there is a need for another politics.<\/p>\n

That politics is the one that acknowledges this insecurity.<\/p>\n

It is the politics that recognises this insecurity has been manufactured by neoliberal politics and all the parties that have subscribed to it.<\/p>\n

And it is the politics that accepts that it is for government to solve this.<\/p>\n

How? Some ideas for now:<\/p>\n