The report, devised following UN Special Rapporteur Philip Alston’s visit to the country, is an in-depth analysis of the UK government's social policies pursued over the recent years, which claims that in a bid to "avoid burdening the next generation," the government has been involved in "the systematic dismantling of social protection policies since 2010," endangering "the next generation’s prospects" as a result.
"British compassion for those who are suffering has been replaced by a punitive, mean-spirited, and often callous approach apparently designed to instill discipline where it is least useful, to impose a rigid order on the lives of those least capable of coping with today’s world, and elevating the goal of enforcing blind compliance over a genuine concern to improve the well-being of those at the lowest levels of British society," the document said.
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According to the report, key elements of the post-war social contract "are being overturned" as a result, with a fifth of the UK population, living in poverty.
In addition, the UN rapporteur voiced special concerns over Brexit’s ramifications for the Britons, noting that he had got an impression that the issue was regarded as "an afterthought" by the UK cabinet.
"In my meetings with the government, it was clear to me that the impact of Brexit on people in poverty is an afterthought, to be dealt with through manipulations of fiscal policy after the event, if at all," the rapporteur said.
Alston, therefore, urged the UK government to take action to ensure that "the brunt of the resulting economic burden is not borne by its most vulnerable citizens," and "legislative recognition of social rights" would be at the heart of the post-Brexit social policies.