One year since the Tories were voted in, this is what they’ve actually achieved

It's been one year since the Conservatives won the General Election, and things have only gone from bad to worse

The Prime Minister David Cameron (Getty Images)

After a year of Tory rule Britain has been left in worse shape than ever. There have been serious policy failures, a multitude of U-turns and even cabinet resignations. Despite the focus on Labour’s internal fighting, it is the Cameron premiership that has been dogged by crises over the past year.

Housing

Under the Tories the housing crisis has only deepened. Over the past year experts have called on the government to drop its housing bill, which has been described as signalling the end of affordable housing. The Labour Party has estimated that 40,000 council homes will be lost per year under the new proposals. Local councils are also being forced to sell-off land and property against their wishes. As people are forced to put the rent on the overdraft the idea of saving for a deposit is an unreachable dream for many.

Education

Luckily we heard yesterday that the Tories have decided to abandon their plan of forced academisation. In what is simply another case of Westminster politicians thinking they know better than local teachers. The government has been forced to U-turn owing to sustained pressure from Labour and a coalition of angry teachers, parents and governors. At the same time maintenance grants have been scrapped for the poorest students as a generation of working students are priced out of University.

Health

No failure has been more obvious than the failure to negotiate with Junior Doctors. For the first time in the BMA’s history, junior doctors have engaged in full walkouts across the UK. Jeremy Hunt has refused to listen to doctors’ concerns and has attempted to impose a contract on hard-working professionals attempting to stick up for our NHS. The Tories continue to insult the intelligence of some of our brightest minds. Alongside this breakdown in trust we have seen the rise of waiting times and a cut in mental health services. The elderly face unprecedented cuts to their care. It is clear more than ever that the Conservatives cannot be trusted with our National Health Service.

Economy

Now we know the economy has never been the government’s strongpoint despite its rhetoric (does the phrase ‘long term economic plan’ ring a bell?) but recent reports have only further dampened their record. With growth once again predicted to go down, the Chancellor is also expected to miss his targets on the deficit and borrowing yet again. Despite being in power for six years we are still told that this is the Labour Party’s fault. Party divisions over Europe have only further shaken the economic outlook with the pound now in dire straits against international currency.

Tax

The Panama Papers scandal has served as the clearest example yet of the serious divides between the government and the Labour Party. After the Prime Minister was embroiled in the scandal over his personal and family tax affairs many were led to question how the Tories could be inflicting huge cuts on normal people while the richest dodged their tax. The Google tax avoidance deal was the precursor to the inept handling of the Panama scandal.

Benefits

Behind the Tory rhetoric on work rests cuts to the support that working families receive. Thankfully the Tory attack on child tax credits was halted after a monumental campaign that exposed the plan for what it was: an attack on working people simply trying to get by. The disabled and vulnerable have also been hit by these cuts. Iain Duncan Smith, a former Tory leader, resigned as Work and Pensions Secretary over the disgraceful attempt to cut support for disabled people across the country. The number of families relying on food banks and emergency food parcels in Britain is not falling - the number continues to rise.

Equality

Evidence continues to show that it is women who have been hit hardest by Tory austerity. Little effort has been made to close the pay-gap and the promise of free childcare for working families has not yet materialised as promised. While we have seen the back of the Tampon Tax, the money the government had signposted for supporting women’s shelters has disappeared with no alternative funding offered. Shelters for victims of rape and domestic violence continue to disappear.

There are many other areas that we could explore but I think that I would need an endless word count for that. The Tories have failed to control private rents and deliver affordable housing, the National Health Service is in a precarious position and the government has launched the greatest attack on our junior doctors in the history of the health service. Our teachers and students are under extreme stress to meet arbitrary standards, the economic outlook remains bleak after six years of Tory rule, and the richest get away with not paying their tax while the vulnerable suffer cuts to their benefits threatening their independence and livelihoods and - to top it all off - women are being hit the hardest.

I guess you could say it’s just a case of the same old Tories.