UK’s most senior judge condemns government’s austerity policies in extraordinary political attack

President of Supreme Court makes rare political comment, saying benefits changes affect women, children and disabled most

The UK’s most senior judge has condemned the effects of government austerity on families, women and minorities, in an unusual political attack.

Lady Hale, president of the Supreme Court, said cost-cutting had worsened the struggle of some families to find enough money for daily life and had caused problems in the legal system.

In a speech about human rights and family life to the Isle of Man Law Society, she talked about how a law allowing different-sex civil partnerships would become law in October.

But she went on: “While some families are fighting for legal recognition of their relationships, we should not forget that other families are fighting for enough to live on and to make ends meet.

“The UK government’s austerity policies have undoubtedly made this worse and have posed some uncomfortable problems for the courts.”

She added: “The problem that we have in the courts is that it is quite obvious – indeed it is officially conceded – that many of the recent changes to the benefits system impact more harshly on women, children and disabled people than they do on other groups: for example, the recent report from the Equality and Human Rights Commission, Is Britain Fairer?, states that ‘UK-wide reforms to social security and taxes since 2010 are having a disproportionate impact on the poorest in society and particularly affecting women, disabled people, ethnic minorities and lone parents’ (p 87).”

Speaking last month, she also quoted the report as saying: “Government policies on social security and taxation have increased pressure on living standards for some groups, particularly disabled people, women and some ethnic minorities.”

It is rare for senior judges to comment on politics.

In response to the global financial crisis of 2008, David Cameron as prime minister initiated a programme of public spending cuts that became known as austerity.

The aim was to keep the UK economy in good shape while reducing the national deficit by relentlessly reducing public spending.

Austerity affected most areas of public life, from police numbers to healthcare, and from a public sector pay freeze to social services.

Funding for local authorities was halved. The sharp rise in people turning to food banks was also blamed on austerity.

But last month former chancellor George Osborne denied that “a lack of money” was the cause of Britain’s homelessness crisis.

Earlier this month, Lady Hale spoke out in favour of diversity among judges, saying the judiciary needed to be more diverse so that the public felt those on the bench were genuinely “our judges” rather than “beings from another planet”.

The 12-seat Supreme Court was established in 2009 as the final court of appeal in the UK for civil cases.

A spokesperson for the Department for Work and Pensions said: “We continue to spend around £90billion a year on working-age benefits, and we are spending more than £50billion a year to support disabled people and those with health conditions.

“We are committed to helping families improve their lives by moving into work, and there are now more women in work than ever before.”