In December 2006, two years after the Indian Ocean tsunami had brought terrible destruction and loss of life to large parts of south-east Asia, the UN published a report titled Key Propositions for Building Back Better.
The author of this document, the UN secretary general’s special envoy for tsunami recovery, former US president Bill Clinton, wrote that “while a disaster can actually create opportunities to shift development patterns – to build back better – recovery can also perpetuate pre-existing patterns of vulnerability and disadvantage”.
This warning can be neatly applied to the coronavirus-struck world of today. Clinton’s report seems to be the first use, at least on the international stage, of the now ubiquitous slogan “build back better”. The former president was obviously fond of it – he later used it for a humanitarian programme in Haiti that has been described as a grimly exploitative example of disaster capitalism – but it wasn’t until Covid-19 arrived that the phrase could be found everywhere, from Joe Biden’s presidential campaign to Downing Street’s “new deal for Britain”.
The problem – or the whole point, if you are a duplicitous politician – is that this slogan is hopelessly vague and can mean almost anything. It could mean reinvesting in public services, instituting a four-day week, creating jobs in the green technologies of the future and a whole host of policy ideas campaigned for by the left and – polling suggests – popular with the public.
The evidence so far, though, would tend to suggest that what it really means is creating ever more opportunities for the “wealth creators, capitalists and financiers” Boris Johnson heralded in June. The Marmot report, published this week and titled Build Back Fairer, tells us that Covid-19 has “exposed massive inequality” in Britain and argues that we cannot return to normal. The problem, then, is that our government seems intent on following in the footsteps of the disaster capitalists who have for centuries profited at times of war, disease and natural disaster, enriching themselves and those around them, while most people suffer or struggle to get by.
Since the pandemic struck, I have been speaking to vulnerable people across the country, investigating the myriad ways the government is letting its citizens down and, in many cases, acting unlawfully. For these people, and for the lawyers and civil society campaigners trying to help them, the idea that Boris Johnson’s government has any intention of “building back better” is a grim joke.
Rather, the government is using the pandemic as a cover for continuing to strip away support the state is often legally obliged to provide and then branding those who challenge it as – in the words of Priti Patel – “do-gooders” and “lefty human rights lawyers”. What this Conservative government means by “building back better” is actually just more of the same crony capitalism that has brought us the “massive inequality” the Marmot report highlights. During the pandemic, £1.5bn of taxpayers’ money has been handed to Tory-linked companies, none of which were major government suppliers before.
While this has been great news for people such as Matt Hancock’s former neighbour Alex Bourne, who now finds himself with a plum contract to produce millions of Covid-19 test tubes for the NHS, it’s not what most people would imagine when they think of a better country. With Keir Starmer’s Labour party not offering a huge amount in the way of political opposition, those lawyers and do-gooders are on the frontline in the battle against the government’s push to strip away protections for its most vulnerable citizens.
Last month, for example, the court of appeal found that Gavin Williamson, the education secretary, had acted unlawfully in failing to consult the children’s commissioner for England and other children’s rights organisations before rushing through a series of regulations that removed or watered down 65 safeguards for children in care in England. These regulations, described as “relaxing minor burdens”, were introduced on 23 April and came into force the next day, with no time for parliamentary debate. Tellingly, the changes mirrored proposals the government had tried – and failed – to introduce as part of the Children and Social Work Act 2017.
Legal victories such as this have not stopped millions of British citizens from suffering during this pandemic. While Downing Street has been forced to spend more money on benefits and the furlough scheme, benefits advisers from local government, the Royal British Legion and the Child Poverty Action Group have all told me that the original problem remains the same: people forced to claim benefits are simply not given enough money. One adviser in Glasgow told me that the application of punitive benefits sanctions during the pandemic has meant that clients of his have “died all-but-destitute”.
The austerity measures, first instituted in 2010, that have left local authorities unable to provide the support that their citizens are legally entitled to have remained in place. The parents of children with special educational needs are woefully under-supported, with many left to fend for themselves during lockdown. Asylum seekers are dying in Home Office accommodation, with one telling me that she was moved into accommodation also being used as a brothel after she gave birth.
I am reminded not only of Bill Clinton in 2006 – “recovery can also perpetuate pre-existing patterns of vulnerability and disadvantage” – but of something the late, great reporter Wayne Barrett told me about the Trump family: “Desperation is the land they inherit and inhabit. Dark times are times of great opportunity for people of great stealth.”
Oscar Rickett is a journalist who regularly contributes to the Guardian, Vice, Middle East Eye and openDemocracy
