Over the past two days we have been bombarded with headlines of how the Irish & British economies are apparently on the rise. On Tuesday Tory Chancellor George Osborne told Westminster that the ‘UK’ economy has grown better than expected while today the Irish Central Statistics Office has claimed the Irish economy is the fastest growing economy in the EU at a staggering rate of ‘7.8%’.
These recent statistics show nothing more than billions of extra Euros and Pounds are falling into the pockets of multi-national corporations and the financial elite at the expense of the working class who bore the catastrophic consequences of the 2008 financial collapse.
While the Tory Chancellor stood in Westminster and smugly professed that the ‘UK’ economy is back on track, his party have been engaged in financial terror against the people. Since 2010 they have cut approximately £110 billion from public expenditure and recent studies have revealed that their austerity programme has led to the economic murder of 120,000 people. It is estimated that every working home is £3,500 worse off than they were before 2010. The Tory cuts have had direct consequences on the 6 counties with its devastating increasing suicide rate, unemployment, child poverty and continuing cuts to education and health. This has led to near cancerous consequences to our fragile society that will be felt for generations.
The working class people of the 26 counties were forced and continue to face the EU/IMF austerity missile that hit them with the bailout in 2008. Irish homes are now €3,000 worse off due to an increase in taxes and the rapid privatisation of public commodities. In 2017 it was revealed by the ‘World Economic Forum’ that Ireland has a soaring Wealth Inequality. The Irish government continue to implement their EU/IMF austerity programme by cutting public expenditure and privatising public services. The Irish working class are being told their economy is booming yet they are faced with a massive housing shortage, a failing health system, stagnant wages, tax rises and a continuing migration crisis.
As the mainstream media continue to issue their optimistic economic news it reveals nothing more than the absolute disconnection between the ordinary people and the false mathematics of the economy. While a growing or booming capitalist economy means more money into the pockets of the rich it means more turmoil for the working class. While the financial elite will get new private jets, yachts and mansions we get more food banks, more homeless and more financial despair.
