A FORMER adviser to David Cameron attacked UK austerity while speaking on Fox News - despite having previously advocated for billions of pounds of welfare cuts.
Steve Hilton, who hosts The Next Revolution on the US network, was critical of having a full shutdown in America as a way of helping delay the spread of the coronavirus.
Warning that the cure may be "worse than the disease", Hilton cited UK austerity deaths and said the same could be coming in the future for Americans if there is a full lockdown in the country.
READ MORE: Sturgeon warns up to 200k Scots face months of strict lockdown
Hilton, who worked as Cameron's chief strategy adviser, left his Downing Street position in 2012. His final memo called for £25 billion further cuts to the welfare state on top of the £18bn which had already been identified in the Tories' 2010 spending review process.
Steve Hilton, ex-Cameron strategist, is arguing that UK austerity killed 130,000 people; some of who died due to policies Hilton supported. Then rails against "our ruling classes & their TV mouthpieces": have a look in the mirror Steve you are on @FoxNews pic.twitter.com/vGqVL25Yqp
— Gerry Hassan (@GerryHassan) March 23, 2020
Speaking on Fox, Hilton referenced Dr Fauci's willingness to have people see him as over-reacting in his calls for a stringent lockdown. Fauci argues it's worth it to save lives.
Hilton said: "Well that’s easy for him to say. He’ll still have a job at the end of this, whatever happens. Our ruling class and their TV mouth pieces whipping up fear over this virus … they can afford an indefinite shutdown!
"Working Americans can’t, they’ll be crushed by it. You know that famous phrase – the cure is worse than the disease? That is exactly the territory we are hurtling towards. You think it’s just the coronavirus that kills people? This total economic shutdown will kill people.
"A UK study calculated that 130,000 died avoidably from austerity there between 2012 and 2017. The years of austerity for America to pay the cost of this shutdown will be worse."
Alan White, a news editor at Buzzfeed, said Hilton's grift was "absolutely off the charts".
And National contributor Gerry Hassan urged Hilton to "look in the mirror".
In the US so far, there are 34,000 coronavirus cases and there have been 414 deaths.
As each state takes a different approach, a fifth of people in the US currently face orders to stay at home.
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