Decades of welfare cuts have fuelled rise of far right, UN expert says

Decades of efforts by mainstream politicians to roll back welfare programmes have given rise to an "extremely dangerous" discourse that has helped fuel the rise of the far right and rightwing populists, a top UN expert has told the Guardian.

- Ashifa Kassam

From London to Lisbon, politicians from centre-right and centre-left parties alike have steadily eroded social programmes, fostering a sense of scarcity and creating fertile ground for the stirring up of anti-migrant sentiment, said Olivier De Schutter, the UN special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights.

"If we were doing more, people would not feel threatened, they would not fear falling behind," he said. "They would be reassured that the digital and ecological transitions and globalisation will be painless because they are protected by a state that cares for them."

De Schutter will present a report to the UN general assembly today that lays out his belief in investing in universal rights-based social protection. At the heart of his argument is the need for governments to rethink the welfare state - from food assistance to healthcare and unemployment benefits - as an essential tool to maintain the social fabric of society, rather than a cost to be reduced.