Budget 2015: What can we expect under a Conservative government?

George Osborne said that it would be the budget of the working people; a budget that puts security first; a budget that sets out a plan for Britain to move from a low wage, high tax country to a high wage, low tax one. Yet beneath this generic rhetoric lies a devastating blow for almost everyone who doesn’t enjoy the lavish lifestyle of the wealthy, including the working people Osborne and the Conservative Party claim to represent.

For those who didn’t watch the budget, or for those who don’t understand the policies being implemented by the government, here is a brief run through of a number of policies announced today.

Today the Chancellor announced the first Conservative budget since 1996

Inheritance tax threshold raised to £1 million:

Here is a key example of why this budget is by no means a budget for working people. This policy will allow people to pass on estates worth up to £1 million free of inheritance tax, clearly a policy that is only beneficial to the richest few in our society. There are a number of severe issues with UK housing that need more direct attention, such as a lack of social housing or in fact, a lack of adequate housing altogether. Surely these are the policies that deserve a place in the budget; there are over 1 million homes in the UK that are classified as unfit to live in, whereas there are less than 500,000 homes that are valued at over £1 million.

University maintenance grants replaced by loans:

Arguably the group that will be hit the hardest by today’s budget is young people, students in particular. The Chancellor announced today that maintenance grants provided by Student Finance would be replaced by a loan, further adding to the debt that many people will never pay back. This is no less than a direct attack on the poorest students in the country, as the grant can only currently be claimed by those who come from a household earning less than £42,000 a year. As someone who is fortunate enough to obtain a grant, I know that it plays an essential role in helping students through university, as more often than not those who claim it have no additional support from parents or guardians. Osborne claims that the cuts won’t deter the most disadvantaged from going to university; in fact there has been a rise in the number of people seeking further education (although the figure stills wavers between 49-50%). This may be true, but with narrowing job prospects and a growing number of people holding degrees to compete with, many see university as the next crucial step to hopefully furthering their future prospects.

No automatic housing benefit for those aged 18-21:

Cutting the housing benefit for young people is said to save around £40 million from the welfare budget, but at what cost to those that it will directly impinge upon? The Chancellor stated that young people should ‘earn or learn’ but with the scrapping of maintenance grants combined with cuts to housing benefit, young people are seemingly stuck in a catch-22 situation. Going to university means that students will leave education with tens of thousands of pounds of debt, yet if they choose to leave education at 18 and find a job, it’s a likely situation that they’ll be living in their family home way into their 30’s.

Introduction of a higher living wage:

Any increase to the living wage to a welcome decision, but this announcement doesn’t go far enough. What the Chancellor has done here is simply increase the minimum wage and masquerade it as a living wage. The Living Wage Foundation calculated what the true living wage is, and found that it is £7.85 an hour outside of London, and £9.15 an hour in London. In the Commons earlier today, a cheer erupted when Osborne announced that from April next year, it will be compulsory for employers to pay £7.20 an hour, rising to £9 by 2020. Clearly the Chancellor forgot to do his research before promoting this as the most pinnacle moment of the budget announcement. Furthermore, by the time 2020 comes around, it has been suggested that the true living wage will have risen even further, therefore making Osborne’s plans wholly inadequate.

Of course, these are by no means the only announcements that the Chancellor made today; he also announced a freeze in working-age benefits and cuts to tax credits among other things, but I can’t claim to be an expert in those areas and I would be out of depth writing about them. However, what is clear from this budget is that the Conservative government are going after those who wouldn’t necessarily have voted for the party back in May; the poor, the young, and the disabled – these are the people who will be affected most by the budget. Meanwhile at the other end of the scale, beneficial policies for the rich are being announced, meaning that ultimately the wealthy will only get wealthier.

A number of news websites are currently posting live updates on the budget; these are beneficial if you want to find out more about the points I’ve discussed, or learn about the ones I left out: The Guardian, BBC, The Independent.

Same-sex marriage: The fight for equality doesn’t end here

What a wonderful month it’s been for the LGBT+ community. The 22^nd of May saw Ireland vote yes in the referendum that would decide whether same-sex couples should be able to marry. Just over a month later and the US Supreme Court ruled the same decision in the landmark Obergell v. Hodges case. Following this, pride celebrations have been getting under way all across the world in major cities from San Francisco to London to Manila. Seeing such amazing scenes of celebration may lead some to believe that the fight for equality is over, but dig a little deeper and it’s clear that this couldn’t be further from the truth.

Scenes outside of the Supreme Court

LGBT rights have for so long been a topic of hot debate in the USA, and for years some traditionally conservative states such as Alabama and Mississippi have fought to ensure that Friday’s 5-4 decision would never become a reality. The ruling rightly caused a storm on social media, with almost 7 million tweets containing the hashtag #LoveWins alone. The reports of couples rushing to wed after such a long fight for their right to do so is truly heart-warming, and it’s definitely not something that should be downplayed, but for many a marriage license doesn’t always act as a ticket to a land of freedom.

At present, only 21 of the 50 states have legislation in place to ban discrimination against LGB people in employment and housing, and only 18 of these have laws that ban discrimination against those who identify as transgender. Everywhere else, there are no laws that stop an employer from firing an employee, or a landlord from evicting their tenants on the basis of their sexual orientation and/or gender. Additionally, even though same-sex couples can now get married, there are certain laws that prohibit them from starting a family. Alabama is the perfect example of this. As a state that currently has no laws against LGBT+ discrimination, same-sex couples are forbidden to adopt a child. Just three years ago, a woman was denied her request to adopt her spouses child, despite the fact that they had previously gotten married in California.

Marriage might be legal, but there are no laws against discrimination

For some, discrimination might not come from the workplace, but rather from within their own family. Simply posting a picture of a pride celebration is too dangerous for many, let alone sharing a status or a photo about a relationship. In fact, Facebook itself has come under scrutiny in recent years for its blanket ban on adopted names, a policy that affects LGBT people who sometimes use such names to avoid homophobia and discrimination. Therefore for those who face extreme discrimination from those close to them, marriage is often all but an unattainable end goal.

Another problem faced by the LGBT community is the fact that the rights of those living in places other than the USA and Western Europe are often forgotten about, particularly by the media. At present, it is illegal to be gay in 79 countries worldwide; a statistic that is shocking yet underreported and rarely discussed. In 10 of these countries, homosexuality is punishable by death. Those who identify as LGBT in these countries often have no option but to hide their true identity, or else face extreme punishments.

There are almost 80 countries where homosexuality remains illegal.

Although LGBT is the acronym that is most often used by the media and activist groups, it fails to incorporate those who are queer, intersex, or asexual (LGBTQIA), indeed many believe that activism for LGBT rights often focuses solely on the advancement of those who identify as either gay or lesbian. Now that same-sex marriage is a reality, activism needs to take a drastic turn to help achieve equality for everyone. There’s still a lot to achieve; reports of mental health conditions are undoubtedly higher for LGBT people, and it’s a sad fact that those who are transgender are at a higher risk of being victims are violent crimes including murder. The road to true equality may prove to be a long one, but the end goal is in no way unachievable.

Of course, the legalisation of same-sex marriage in the USA is a wonderful step towards equality, but it is by no means the final one. The array of rainbow flags that now don the profile pictures of many on Facebook is perhaps the simplest form of support for the LGBT community, but it’s almost guaranteed that it won’t last for long. For some, showing support in this way is enough and many won’t pause to think of the discrimination that occurs outside of the USA, but for those who identify as LGBT+, the reality is that life doesn’t get easier after marriage, but rather it may prove to cause more discrimination than before.