15 years of government cuts have decimated key public services. Politicians’ prioritisation of corporate interests has left the country massively unequal and desperate for change. But rather than proper funding to rescue essential services, we could be in for even more cuts to public services, in the style of far-right slasher Elon Musk.
Musk and cuts to public services: coming to the UK?
The head of the UK parliament’s National Audit Office (NAO) says the way the government is funding healthcare and special educational needs is unsustainable. But rather than condemning the devastating cuts responsible, he suggested he’s “open to learning” from the “drastic cuts” the world’s richest man is currently seeking to make in the US.
Chief auditor Gareth Davies said “clearly we have to do something”, and “we need to be better prepared” for “increasingly likely events” like “pandemics, extreme weather or cyber-attacks”.
He’s absolutely right that something needs to change, of course. And if modern technology can help to reduce waste, brilliant.
But the problem with our health and education system isn’t waste. It’s years of massive, disastrous funding cuts from governments ideologically committed to weakening public services so private companies can boost their profits.
The public wants funding for the NHS, the government wants privatisation
Keep Our NHS Public has insisted that government funding of healthcare has not kept up with inflation or “the increasing needs of a growing and ageing population with greater complex needs”. Between 2010 and 2019, it says, health spending per person in Britain was “18% below the EU average”. Underfunding has had numerous negative impacts.
The British Medical Association (BMA) highlights that:
Health spending growth has been below average since 2010, resulting in a cumulative underspend of hundreds of billions
It adds that:
The UK spends less on healthcare per person than many comparable nations
And England in particular lags behind other nations in the UK.
Moreover, the BMA underlines how:
Staff have also had to put up with sub-inflationary pay rises since 2008, leaving them feeling undervalued and burnt out.
Meanwhile, an NAO report has revealed that “public sector maintenance backlogs including hospitals are estimated to be at least £49bn”. As Saffron Cordery from NHS Providers responded:
The list of essential repairs across the NHS waiting to be done keeps getting longer and the costs are rocketing. Vital bits of the NHS are literally falling apart after years of underinvestment nationally.
Keep Our NHS Public stresses that 82% voters agree that the government should increase funding, “primarily through taxation”. Regardless, Keir Starmer’s government is “embracing privatisation“, with a plan that “enhances and entrenches [the] role of private sector” and has a “lack of protections against [the] private sector”.
Years of education underfunding have an impact
Members of the National Education Union (NEU) have long been warning of the effect of underfunding on children’s learning. In late 2023, a poll showed that 92% thought low funding levels stopped schools from having enough staff. 85% thought underfunding limited the learning resources available for pupils. And 68% thought school buildings hadn’t received the upkeep they needed. The NEU added:
School spending power has been cut since 2010. It is currently 6% below its level when David Cameron was elected. Primary class sizes are the highest in Europe, and secondary class sizes are the highest since records began more than forty years ago (1977).
The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), meanwhile, insisted in 2024 that:
government funding decisions have resulted in 70% of maintained schools in England facing real-terms cuts since 2010/11. This includes 66% of maintained primary schools and 88% of maintained secondary schools.
Additionally, it said:
After fourteen years of cuts, at least £12.2 billion (1) is needed to restore school spending power to 2010 levels, repair crumbling school buildings and tackle the crisis in SEND funding.
The NEU has an online tool which allows the public to see where cuts have occurred in their local areas.
Starmer cuts too, letting children down and undermining Britain’s future
Again, however, Starmer’s government is continuing the destructive policies of the Tories. Because research from the School Cuts coalition in January 2025 revealed that:
the vast majority of schools – 76% of primary schools and 94% of secondary schools – will not be able to afford their costs next year.
The government wants schools to “make efficiencies”, i.e. cuts. Responding to this, the NEU stressed that:
This cut in funding will see overall per pupil funding drop to the lowest levels in England in real terms for at least 15 years.
It added:
1 in 7 schools are currently in deficit. This is an increase on the year before and the highest rate since at least 2010.
Regarding funding for special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in particular, underfunding means schools have to “prioritise budgets over inclusion“. Because 40% of kids need such additional support at some point in their education, underfunding essentially means letting almost half of the country’s children slip behind.
Our public services need proper funding, not cuts. And the longer we allow corporate lackeys to rule over us, the worse things will get.
Featured image via the Canary
