Ministers tell May to ‘end austerity’

Thousands protest

LONDON, July 2, (Agencies): Prime Minister Theresa May is under pressure from her ministers to end the government’s policy of economic austerity as a new poll shows her popularity has slumped, according to the Observer.

Health minister Jeremy Hunt wants the government to drop a cap on public sector pay rises of a belowinflation 1 percent for nurses, while education minister Justine Greening wants more money for schools, according to the newspaper.

Despite her party’s expectations of a landslide victory, May lost her majority in parliament in last month’s election, pushing her into a deal with a small eurosceptic Northern Irish Protestant party. The opposition Labour Party fared better than expected in last month’s election with its promises of measures such as the end to a 1 percent cap on public sector pay increases.

May’s approval rating is now at minus 20 percentage points against a positive rating of 21 percentage points in April, according to a new Opinium survey for the Observer.

British Agriculture Minister Michael Gove told the Sunday Times newspaper that the government should accept the findings of any future public sector pay reviews.

Meanwhile, thousands of people marched through London on Saturday to protest over austerity and demand Prime Minister May’s government resign after its disastrous showing in last month’s election.

Demonstrators converged in front of the BBC headquarters in central London to demand an end to belttightening that has led to cuts in spending for public services.

May

Silence

Many brandished signs and placards reading: “No More Austerity”, “Cuts Cost Lives” and “Tories Out.”

After holding a minute’s silence in honour of the victims of a deadly fire in London, which killed at least 80 people, and staging a round of applause for the emergency services, protesters headed towards Parliament Square.

Main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn took to the stage to blast the Conservatives’ spending programme, describing it as “brutal and selective to the poorest people and the poorest parts of our community”.

“The Tories are in retreat, austerity is in retreat, the economic arguments of austerity are in retreat,” he added.

The union-backed march was organised a day after the June 14 Grenfell Tower inferno in west London.

An investigation into the fire is under way, but critics blame lax standards and cost-cutting, which they say is a consequence of austerity.

The prime minister, who lost her parliamentary majority in last month’s snap election, narrowly survived a confidence vote on Thursday thanks to the support of Northern Ireland’s small DUP party.

Their deal has been attacked by both Labour and some of May’s own Conservative MPs, in part because the DUP secured an extra billion pounds (1.1 billion euros/$1.3 billion) in state aid for Northern Ireland.

A day earlier, the government had also narrowly voted down a Labour Party amendment to its legislative programme — known as the Queen’s Speech — calling for an end to a six-year cap on public sector pay.