Green Party co-leader Sian Berry under fire after claiming 130,000 people have died due to cuts

Green Party co-leader Sian Berry under fire after claiming 130,000 people have died as a result of government cuts

  • Green Party co-leader says people are dying every day ‘as a result of austerity’
  • Sian Berry came under fire yesterday for her comments on spending cuts
  • She blamed the Tories and their former Coalition partners the Liberal Democrats

Green Party co-leader Sian Berry came under fire yesterday after claiming that 130,000 people have died as a result of Government spending cuts.

Ms Berry, below, told Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘People are dying every day as a result of austerity.’

Blaming restraints in public spending, she said: ‘There’s a lot of evidence that the effects of austerity, particularly the war on disabled people, cuts to local services, benefits changes, cuts to the health service, all of these things add up to an enormous toll on the country.’

Green Party co-leader Sian Berry came under fire yesterday after claiming that 130,000 people have died as a result of Government spending cuts. Ms Berry, below, told Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘People are dying every day as a result of austerity’

She blamed the Tories and their former Coalition partners, the Liberal Democrats.

The figure comes from a new report by Left-wing think-tank the Institute for Public Policy Research, which claims that 130,000 preventable deaths since 2012 would not have taken place were it not for cuts to public spending.

Today presenter Martha Kearney noted that the report carried the caveat that it was ‘too early’ to assess the long-term effects of austerity. 

The interview took place ahead of a speech yesterday in which Ms Berry said: ‘The austerity programme has cost an estimated 130,000 lives.’

Last night, Nerissa Chesterfield, of the Institute for Economic Affairs, said it was an attempt ‘to score political points’ and to ‘weaponise’ the study. 

And Change UK MP Anna Soubry, a Tory Minister in the Coalition, tweeted: ‘Struggling to understand how Sian Berry can claim the Green Party is the least tribal of any party as she falsely claims Lib Dems are responsible for 130,000 austerity deaths. So much for any Remain alliance & further proof of Britain’s broken politics.’

Change UK MP Anna Soubry, a Tory Minister in the Coalition, tweeted: ‘Struggling to understand how Sian Berry can claim the Green Party is the least tribal of any party as she falsely claims Lib Dems are responsible for 130,000 austerity deaths. So much for any Remain alliance & further proof of Britain’s broken politics'

Change UK MP Anna Soubry, a Tory Minister in the Coalition, tweeted: ‘Struggling to understand how Sian Berry can claim the Green Party is the least tribal of any party as she falsely claims Lib Dems are responsible for 130,000 austerity deaths. So much for any Remain alliance & further proof of Britain’s broken politics’

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