Now austerity is hitting strivers, how will the Tories sell it? | Suzanne Moore
Austerity enters its next phase. Many still don't use that word or understand what it means. But we are now crossing the line from austerity-lite to deep austerity. One of the chief indicators is that the kind of protests we are seeing are not coming from the much demonised "underclass" - who are presumably too busy breeding, smoking and eating saturated fats - but from those who are "nice" and recognised as "respectable".
Last week, a tearful woman on Question Time talked about how tax credit cuts may affect her. Tory MPs everywhere are shuffling nervously, not exactly certain how to sell the rhetoric of taking money from the working poor. It's not as easy for them as cutting benefits, which could simply be depicted as taking candy from obese babies and their feckless mothers.
Related: A Tory-voter breaks down on TV over tax credits cuts. Here's Labour's chance | Owen Jones
The new wave of protest will not come from the 'shirkers' who government has already written off, but the strivers
Continue reading...