Rishi Sunak’s Crackdown Cruelty
Today, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak unveiled a new crackdown on those claiming long term sickness benefits after revealing that 11 million fit notes had been issued over the last year, at a cost of £69 billion.
However, the multimillionaire Tory leader, born into a life of wealth and privilege, has decided to take aim at benefits claimants themselves as opposed to dealing with the root causes of long term sickness and persistent absenteeism.
Liberal Democrats Parliamentary Candidate for Mid Cheshire, Jack Price-Harbach was perplexed at this strategy:
"I've always believed that the British approach to welfare has been terribly skewed in both directions. Under Labour, it was perceived to be too generous and incentivised laziness. Under the Conservatives, their approach borders on cruel. They redefined disability criteria so that those who can't work are forced into it, whilst those who only need to be signed off for a short period, have to go back to work when they're clearly not ready because Stautory Sick Pay is so derisory."
The Liberal Democrats Fair Deal offers solutions across many policy areas that would reduce the likelihood of employees taking long term sick leave. These include:
- A commitment to putting mental health on parity with our physical health.
- Invest in a more prompt & preventative approach to healthcare by employing more staff to reduce waiting times.
- Repeal the £20 a week cut to Universal Credit imposed by the Tories
- Incentivise rather than demonise people to get them back into work.
- Guarantee flexible working to allow parents, carers, disabled people etc. to return to the workforce. (Unless there is a genuine business case not to).
- Encourage and incentivise businesses to offer more skills based training and apprenticeships.
- A ten year plan to eradicate poverty in the UK.
We are a party that cares about our society, and treats people with compassion so that we can all feel empowered to succeed as individuals. Rishi Sunak's "War on the Workshy" flies in the face of those values. If you like our Fair Deal, you'll find it below:
