Description
This contributions explores the ways Covid19, in health and economic terms, has exacerbated
inequality in the UK, where inequality was already intensifying as a result of years of austerity. In order to show how Covid widened the gap, we examine the UK’s Covid19 economic response package, starting from the first national lockdown in March 2020 until October 2021, this includes the package of economic measures undertaken but not the public health measures. Initially hailed as a complete change of direction of the Conservative government after years of commitment to fiscal austerity, we articulate the substantial continuity in the approach with Privatized Keynesianism, the economic template pursued since the 1980s. We show the remarkable preservation of asset-based and means-tested welfare mechanisms following a recognisable logic where individuals are responsible for their own wellbeing and the state provides only limited welfare; unless of course you own large asset holdings.
