New Thinking Series: Wiping Out Debt

A People's History with John McDonnell

What should the UK government be doing to protect people from the impacts of the cost-of-living crisis, both in the UK and around the world, to improve public services and to help tackle the household debt crisis?

Nearly ten million people are heavily in debt in the UK. We are in a personal debt crisis. Rent debt, credit cards, and utility bills have all piled up £2.4 billion owed in energy debt alone. Bad jobs, low wages, and the lack of a proper safety net pushed many people in to debt, and the cost of living crisis has supercharged it.

Additionally, the UK has a role in the debts of some of the 54 countries currently in debt crisis. This is not an accident. For centuries, powerful governments, institutions and corporations have used debt to control and plunder the resources of countries in the global south for their own gain. Debt Justice is a part of a global movement to end unjust debt and the poverty and inequality it perpetuates. Only together can we build a fair economy that serves people and the planet.

Presented by:

- Adrienne Roberts - Senior Lecturer in the Department of Politics at the University of Manchester. She specializes in feminist international political economy with a particular focus on the gendered relations of finance, debt, development, and trade.

- Heidi Chow - Executive Director of Debt Justice. She was a campaigner at Global Justice Now for 13 years, challenging the power and politics of inequality and poverty both in the UK and globally.

The New Thinking Series is a series of discussions in the House of Commons, hosted by John McDonnell MP and Claim the Future, which present innovative ideas to shake up the status quo.