HENRY FOWLER, assistant general secretary of the General Federation of Trade Unions (GFTU), reports on Day 2 from the GFTU’s residential Summer School at the Workers’ Retreat, Quorn Grange Hotel
WATCHING David Cameron and George Osborne at the Covid inquiry claim that austerity did not leave the NHS weaker ahead of the pandemic was like being thrown back in time 10 years.
The evidence is totally clear. Austerity left our whole society weaker — with reversals in life expectancy for many communities, 300,000 excess deaths due to austerity and the undermining of many of the vital services that bind our society together and make people’s lives better.
It also severely undermined our economy. One of the key lies of Cameron and Osborne throughout the austerity years was that an economic crisis meant we could not afford to make the public investment necessary. Worryingly, that damaging logic seems to be back in fashion.
The future does not have to be climate chaos and social breakdown. MARC VANDEPITTE looks at the alternatives offered by the Global Justice Report, co-authored by Thomas Piketty
Only an ambitious programme of state-led investment can restore growth and improve living standards, argues MICHAEL BURKE


