Austerity and deficit reduction are smokescreens for class war against the poor, economics professor, former Greek finance minister, and fiery commentator Yanis Varoufakis declared Thursday on BBC’s Question Time.

Varoufakis made the statements during a panel debate with United Kingdom politicians and pundits and took direct aim at the economic policies of the British government.

“The problem is that austerity is being used as a narrative to conduct class war,” he said, lambasting the government for cutting taxes on the wealthy while slashing spending on public services.

“To be talking about reducing the state further when effectively what you are doing is reducing taxes like inheritance tax and at the same time you are cutting benefits—that is class war,” Varoufakis continued.

Varoufakis called for Britain’s public institutions, from the National Health Service to higher education, to be protected from free market economics.