The 32 ways the Conservatives are a threat to Britain

The Conservative government have knowingly disenfranchised those in need and left Britain poorer.

They have slashed the quality of life and the opportunities for those who most need them. And they have degraded the most valuable weapon we have to fight discrimination – education. In fact, they’ve sought profit over quality in our schools.

Since they came to power in 2010, David Cameron and Theresa May have also:

Debt, tax and poverty

• Plunged country into an additional £800billion worth of debt, so we now owe £1.7trillion.
• Borrowed almost double what the previous Labour government did.
• Paid back less money on average when in office that any recent Labour government.
• Been the largest borrower of funds for the last 70 years.
• Converted Britain into a modern tax haven by having the lowest rates of any of the 20 leading global economies.
• Cut corporation tax by 8% and cut the top tax rate for private earners.
• Taken up to £3,000 a year from families in need.
• Raised the wealth of the UK’s top 1,000 by over 112% since 2009.
• Increased child poverty by almost 20% and raised wealth inequality by 400%.
• Introduced bedroom tax that has resulted in 14% increase in rent for those in social housing.
• Scrapped housing benefits for 18 to 21-year-olds increasing youth homelessness by over 200%, and taking LGBTI youth homelessness to over 25% of the total.
• Increased the use of food banks by over 1million people across the country.
• Been responsible for the deaths of 30,000 people in 2015 alone due to cuts to social services and benefits.

Health, education and social policy

• Decreased public spending by 5%
• Planned to bring government public spending to levels consistent with 1930, despite the population growing by over 30% since then.
• Privatised two-thirds of the NHS at the detriment of availability, staffing, and coverage.
• Made over 50% of NHS beds available for private use, meaning 15,00 less hospital beds for NHS patients.
• Significantly cut bursary funds to student nurses who fuel the NHS. Significantly fewer students are applying to be nurses applications year on year.
• Cut education spending by 24%.
• Increased university tuition fees by 200%.
• Increased the number of children being taught in oversized classrooms by 300%.
• Slashed, destabilised and corrupted the education system. More children are not finishing school and more teachers are quitting the profession than ever. And you all had a problem with Betsy DeVos never being a teacher.

National security

• Decreased the number of police on our streets by 15% (20,000+) whilst claiming to protect us.
• Cut funding in the police force by 20% (over £1billion) to the point where volunteers are now used at crime scenes
• Made us the second largest arms dealer in world, directly linking us to global terror.
• Continue to sell arms to Saudi Arabia and the Middle East, the breeding grounds of Al-Qaeda & ISIS.

Brexit

• Handed us Brexit, which is the single biggest threat to LGBTI protection in UK society.
• Broken every promise and pledge of their Brexit campaign. Brexit has, in turn, single-handedly screwed over Britain’s economy and value indefinitely.
• Are the very reason we have fucking Brexit in the first place.

Our rights

• Revoked the Dubs amendment that protects foreign families. This is what gives them the right to stay together when they seek refuge in the UK.
• Told LGBTI asylum seekers to return home, to countries where it their sexuality is illegal, and ‘pretend to be straight’.
• Plan to abolish the Human Rights Act with no alternative (This protects you or your children if they get raped, you if you get fired without reason at work, you if your husband beats you and me if someone attacks me just because I’m gay.)
• This year marks the 50th anniversary of the decriminalisation of homosexuality, a move brought about by a progressive Labour Government in 1967. It was also a progressive Labour Government that introduced Civil Partnerships to the UK.

Labour has largely voted in favour of all progressive LGBTI legislation in recent years. Meanwhile 52% of Conservative MPs voted against our equal rights in 2013.

It is now time for another progressive Labour government to challenge the system. Social cohesion is diminishing and LGBTI discrimination is on the rise. We need a government that can draw us together.

Our next government should improve social mobility, long term wealth creation, literacy and skilled workers, not put further strains on the system and cut its resources further. We need a government that looks out for all its population, not just the top percentile.

New polls show we can prevent a Conservative majority on 8 June. It is imperative that we come together, if not for the many, then for the LGBTI community on election day. Let’s open the doors to a brighter future for the UK, as the alternative is truly frightening.

Joseph Williams is a human rights campaigner. He is co-founder and director of social enterprise, DRIVE, a not-for-profit dedicated to removing the barriers to inclusion for discriminated communities in the UK and globally. You can follow him on Twitter here.