Brown's capitalist vision
WORKERS, JAN 2007 ISSUE
The Chancellor's Pre Budget Report in December could have been entitled "10 more years". His recurrent themes were living with globalisation and free trade; the primacy of the market; and the importance of education and knowledge. There was no mention of a national culture or manufacturing in Britain.
Brown believes that growth and low inflation are due to balancing the books. Public spending is paid for out of current taxes, and investment is only made where it is affordable and provided by business investment. Recession is in the past and historically low public debt is good.
What's wrong with this wonderland? Why should workers, many of whom welcomed Brown in May 1997, now be concerned about the future? There are many reasons. Growth means more personal wealth, not social benefits. The economy is at the mercy of international capitalism, which wants control of both private and public sectors. The Bank of England and other independent bodies make key decisions about the economy. Knowledge and skills are supposed to develop without a manufacturing base. Future investment in services will be paid for by ruinously expensive PFI contracts.
Brown wants "efficiency" from the public sector. Wage caps and an aggressive reduction in the number of workers are linked to a so-called reduction in red tape. Any Tory Chancellor would have been proud of that. In fact, under Labour the hand of centrally imposed bureaucracy has increased in the public sector, not fallen.
Shortages of some skilled workers go with a lack of work for others. Excessive hours are rife, yet work is a rarity for young people in some cities. Casualisation, particularly for less skilled work, is growing. Yet there is little pressure for wage rises. Few of us have experienced working conditions like this before. A passive and impotent working class is what Labour and Brown want to see. It is not an unintended side effect.
Trade unions are bemused by this. They rightly recognise the threat to jobs inherent in Brown's spending plans; and they understand that handing public services to private speculators is not in the public interest. Action such as the TUC Speak Up for Public Services rally on 23 January is a start. So will specific action against job cuts, as long as the threats aren't empty. The greater task will be for the whole class to discuss the challenge laid out by Brown. What do we think we'll be doing in another 10 years' time?