# FILE NAME: 00001995.soc
# TITLE: Is austerity necessary to reduce the UK’s national debt? [3b1043d86a3a15b980f9ab6d7d4a206f]
# DESCRIPTION: 
# DATA TYPE: soc
# MODIFICATION TYPE: original
# RELATES TO: 
# RELATED FILES: 
# PUBLICATION DATE: 2025-10-12
# MODIFICATION DATE: 2025-10-12
# NUMBER ALTERNATIVES: 4
# NUMBER VOTERS: 5
# NUMBER UNIQUE ORDERS: 4
# ALTERNATIVE NAME 1: Statement 1 - Final consensus statement: The group discussed at length the concept of austerity and how this impacts the UK’s national debt. Participants agreed that austerity is necessary in order to reduce the UK’s national debt and is primarily used by governments in times of economic downturn. The group also discussed the negative effects of austerity including the increase of inequality and the resulting social problems including an increase in mental health problems. It was noted that the negative effects of austerity are disproportionately felt by the most vulnerable and poorest members of society. Participants felt that the government should be mindful of this and attempt to address this issue where possible. However, it was also noted that there are alternatives to austerity, such as introducing a higher and fairer taxes, and that while these may lead to higher levels of growth there are many people, such as pensioners and students, who would struggle with such measures. In the current climate, the group felt that austerity was the most viable option for reducing the UK’s national debt.
# ALTERNATIVE NAME 2: Statement 2 - The group of participants felt that austerity is necessary in order to reduce the UK’s national debt. The recent global financial crisis (GFC) caused significant damage to the UK economy and consequently the UK government were forced to borrow significant amounts of money. The group of participants felt that it was important to reduce the UK’s national debt at the soonest opportunity in order to reduce the possibility of future economic crises. However, it was also noted that although austerity is a useful tool in reducing national debt, it has a tendency to be applied to the detriment of the most vulnerable members of society, which has adverse impacts on those suffering from mental health problems. It was also noted that there were alternative solutions to austerity that could help the UK economy recover from the GFC. The group of participants felt that more could be done to reduce inequality in the UK and reduce the national debt.
# ALTERNATIVE NAME 3: Statement 3 - The group felt that it was necessary for austerity measures to be applied to reduce the UK’s national debt. Although the global financial crisis forced the government to borrow a lot of money, it was felt that these measures were necessary to reduce the future risk of economic crises. The group felt that the best time to reduce national debt is when the economy is performing well, but in times of economic downturn governments are forced to borrow money in order to prop up their economies. The group also felt that the government were aiming to reduce the debt in the recovery period and thus the need to cut public expenditure and increase taxes was particularly important in the first five years after the global financial crisis. However, the group were sceptical that this was being used effectively, arguing that austerity measures were applied to the most vulnerable members of society instead of the most wealthy. The group would have liked to see more tax rises on the wealthy, rather than increases on those on the average UK wage and below.
# ALTERNATIVE NAME 4: Statement 4 - The group felt that austerity is necessary in order to reduce the UK’s national debt. Although it can be argued that the best time to reduce debt is when the economy is performing well, the recent global financial crisis (GFC) caused significant damage to the economy and consequently the UK government were forced to borrow significant amounts of money. The group discussed that it was important to reduce the UK’s national debt at the soonest opportunity in order to reduce the possibility of future economic crises. However, it was also noted that although austerity is a useful tool in reducing national debt, it has a tendency to be applied to the detriment of the most vulnerable members of society, which has adverse impacts on those suffering from mental health problems. The group felt that there were alternative solutions to austerity that could help the UK economy recover from the GFC. The group also felt that more could be done to reduce inequality in the UK and reduce the national debt.
2: 1,3,2,4
1: 1,3,4,2
1: 1,2,3,4
1: 1,4,3,2