Spring Statement 2025: Austerity 2.0 unleashed - our NHS & health will suffer
Today’s budget statement confirms the government is making a dangerous political and economic mis-calculation, returning to discredited austerity policies that brought the country, and our health care system to its knees. Rather than taking on the super-rich so they pay their fair share in tax, they are targeting the most vulnerable people in society with deadly cuts. This is going to put further strain on our crumbling hospitals and clinics, and will not address the big challenges we need to meet.
Here’s what you need to know about the Spring Statement ⬇️
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has announced the biggest UK spending cuts since Conservative-era austerity. This will translate into budget reductions of as much as 7% for certain government departments over the next four years.
Two weeks ago Labour unveiled widely condemned plans to slash disability benefits by £5bn. Analysis by the Resolution Foundation has found that some disabled people could lose nearly £10,000 a year in benefits by the end of the decade.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, Labour have today announced that they intend to cut even further and deeper, after Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Liz Kendall had her welfare savings estimate rejected by the Office for Budget Responsibility. So Labour have also announced that the health element of Universal Credit will be cut by 50% then frozen over the course of the rest of this Parliament, in order to balance their own books.
This desperate and dangerous scramble is happening because Labour’s economic strategy is failing to deliver on its own promises. So Rachel Reeves is seeking to address this poor performance by making sweeping cuts. But the last decade and a half have shown what this leads to - and it’s not good. The truth is that Labour cannot cut their way to “growth”, yet they are refusing to listen.
There are so many other ways to generate funds for desperately needed welfare support and for our struggling public services. Just a 2% wealth tax on assets worth more than £10m would raise £24bn per year and affect just 0.04% of the UK population. Cutting Bank of England subsidies to the banking sector and having the Bank absorb more of its own costs could save tens of billions too.
Some of the world’s leading economists have written to Rachel Reeves saying that new cuts would be a “profound mistake”. The group Patriotic Millionaires UK have spent the last week urging the government to tax their wealth in order to invest in Britain. Alternatives exist, but Labour won’t listen.
So let’s be clear - this is not about making responsible “fiscal” choices. This about waging war on the most vulnerable working class communities. Numerous studies have linked the era of Conservative austerity from 2010 onwards to tens of thousands of excess deaths in the UK. Now, Labour are not just looking to uphold these deadly policies, but to go even further.
And this will be terrible news for health too. Labour claims one of its key shifts for the NHS is “from sickness to prevention”, yet it is pursuing policies that will plunge people into hardship, and make them even more unwell. Countless think tanks and policy experts have evidenced that tackling poverty is vital to improving healthy outcomes and therefore reducing pressure on the NHS.
What’s more, the government is taking an axe to various parts of the NHS - demanding that Integrated Care Boards cut their costs by 50%. Health experts have warned that these cuts will threaten the NHS’ ability to deliver long term transformation that is needed to improve patient care and outcomes.
Meanwhile, alarm bells are ringing as Keir Starmer refuses to rule out tax cuts for US tech giants - a move designed to “appease” US President Donald Trump. These companies include US spy tech corporation Palantir - who has been handed a £330m contract to run a giant database for NHS patients’ health data in England.
In summary, this Spring Statement has crystallised where the Labour government’s loyalties lie, and in whose interests they are governing. Corporations and the wealthy elite are laughing all the way to the bank, whilst society’s most vulnerable stare down the barrel of further years of poverty and hardship.
These cuts can and must be resisted. Last night young patient leaders from Just Treatment, threatened by the government’s cuts, confronted Wes Streeting. Just Treatment will keep doing all we can to force the government to change course and fight for the rights of patients across the country. Sign up today to join our movement.