David Cameron, the ‘Age of Austerity’ and its Impact (2009–2019)

In the introduction to Chapter 6, a timeline of the global economic crisis of 2007–2008 is provided. After the crisis a brief resurgence of Keynesian economics ensued in an attempt to stabilize the financial system. However, when Britain entered recession, austerity came to the rescue, with the ruling class claiming there was no alternative and David Cameron, then Tory Leader of the Opposition, popularized a new ‘age of austerity’. Cameron became leader of the Coalition between Tories and Liberal Democrats, after a hung Parliament, following the 2010 General Election. An extreme and callous fiscal austerity was unleashed. The following year there were uprisings in London and elsewhere, sparked by the killing by police of Mark Duggan, a Black man in his twenties. The impact of austerity entailed widespread poverty and misery and the Government tried to get people into wage labour at all costs. Austerity’s impact on health is addressed, including its effect on life expectancy with respect to social class. Austerity also involved dismantling the broader social safety net. The chapter concludes that the rich got richer in the decade after 2010, and the poorest, women and minority ethnic communities bore the brunt.