Enterprise Culture Susanne MacGregor; Centre for Local Economic Strategies, 1988, 66 pages, £3.95. Reviewed by FINN JENSEN I think, in terms of local authority services, people should be paying for what they get. It has nothing to do with how rich you are. In this country, we are too sold on the idea that the rich should be made to pay for other people's services. THIS STATEMENT From Nicholas Ridley, the munster in charge of the poll tax, sums up the ideas behind the enterprise culture. The consensus around the welfare
YOU
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Poll tax as social engineering state is to be replaced by idea of setting a market price lor services like education, street lighting, housing etc. As
Norman Tebbit, the former chair of the Tory party, argues: why sbould the rich pay more for, for example, a council's street cleaning services, when the rich do pot pay more for washing powder or bread in the local supermarket?
Susanne MacGregor argues in her well written and informative enterprise society you have frst
In demolish the welfare state'
She correctly explains the poll tax as part of an overall strategy, not just to undermine Labour's strongholds in the inner-cities.
but a radical change in the social
The book not only looks at the rating system but also al privatisation, education, housing.
inner city development and social services, as part of that Tory strategy. In order to carry out such social engineering
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'effectively in rapid time a strong, centralised, authoritarian state which brooks no opposition and makes no concessions' is required. Hence the need to attack the work force in the puble sector in order to open Up Tor the privatisation of public services and to undermine the standard of living for the working class hy weakening the Iratie union movement.
The book gives the history of the poll tax but does not deal with the strategy to defeat it. It notes that neither the Lahour Party, or anyone else, has come up with alternatives to the old rating system, which is also unjust and unpopular.
"Proposals for local income taxation are now receiving more sympathetic consideration by those looking for an alternative to the "poll tax".* But a local income tax will only be another way of redistributing the poverty within the inner-citics.
Only a national progressive tax can take the money from the renly rich (individuals and companies) This should be combined with a shamp increase in government grants to the regions without any strings on how local authorities can use the money. Such a radical tax reform still has to he developed and campaigned for by the labour niovement.
EEC: Maggle right for wrong reasons? The Common Market is back on the political agenda — hut once again Labour Party.
The reason in rather Mrs Thatcher's speech at the College of Europe in Bruges, where she set out her vision' for future European cooperation. For her, the EEC is a common market, and that is how it should stay. The Brussels bureaucrats should keep their noses out of domestic affairs and let cach member state retain its sovereignty.
The problem for many of us in the Labour Party is that Mrs T. has undoubtedly focussed which can pose problems for the left as well as for
When the Labour conference repeatedly confirmed its policy of non-participation in the the Treaty of Rome and the legislation issued under it would prevent a Labour government from implementing the deemed necessary for the regeneration of the British
Thus the issue also revolved around the question of national sovereignly, but from a Lotally different perspective from the Prime Minister's free miket ideology.
Some would have us believe otherwise. We are told that Mrs Thatcher is trying to prevent european socialism from gaining a ils signatories. foothold in this country. Statements made recently by Jacques Delors, the EEC President, to the areas, such as TUC Congress held out the prospect of building a "social Europe within the Profection. Such
However M. Delors made it clear that he was. speaking in a personal and for a very good reason. The EEC
Commission is a a real and enduring collegiate body with a consensus among the centre-right majority peoples of Europe. among its 17 members; The next Labour they would never allow government must their president to issue therefore reclaim its sovereignty by repealing or amending Section 2 of
The Treaty of Rome the European has undoubledly bocn Communities Act, which changed in recent years, gives effect to the Treaty but not to make it any of Rome and EEC legislation in this country. socialism: on the contrary, This will enable it to its ultimate aim of select those areas of EBC removing all barriers to law which are in the trade by 1992 makes it a interests of this country. perfect charter for big Such a step would be business to shift goods and capital to suit their law only operates in this interests, not those of the peoples of Europe. our parliament, which
The Common may be withdrawn at any Agricultural Policy (CAP) time the latter choosen to has emerged virtually unscathed from all the Walter Caims changes provoked by the Labour Common Market Single Europcan Act, and Safeguards Committee CAP payments still command an excessive Any answers? percentage of the total EEC budger. The CAP Dear Socialist Outiook also represents a threat to Phil Hearse's article (SO the environment, by October 88) on the latest encouraging the redrafting of the denaturing of the soil Communist Party's through excessive use of programme (Facing up to nitrate fertilisers: the the Future") is far too paltry EEC directives on complacent. At the petrol lead or acid rain descriptive level, Hearse can hardly compensate for writes we can agree with industrial policies which it the environmental damage MT that 'Capitalism is caused by common changing, the working market food policies.
It is wishful thinking to recomposed, the economy believe that all these is being restructured disadvantages can be therefore... the old eliminated even within post-war consensus is the lifetime of a Labour goverment. To do so way forward. " Fine. But would require a while MT attempts, from convergence of socialist its own viewpoint, to govemments in every develop its neo-reformist EEC member state, since programme, we are the Treaty can only be offered up only negative criticisms which fail to unanimous consent of all indicate any fresh thinking on the changes
This is not to deny the which we are confronted desirability of European cooperation in certain article is far too brief to environmental matters, offer much of an education, and consumer alterative, hut equally the conclusion could be cooperation must secure drawn that there isn't one the full-hearted consent of on offer! the participating nations if Of course, there isn't a it is to be effective. completed alternative
National sovereignty is (anymore than the MT therefore the best thesis is adequate or mechanism for achieving complete) but this does not absolve Hearse from indicating in more positive terms the direction in which he thinks the answer might
To its credit MT is (on its own lerms) trying to develop its programme even if one may disagree with parts (or all) of it. Comrade Hearse's article fails to spell out 5O's counter-hegemonic strategy to effectively challenge MT's theses concerning the conclusions which may be perfectly legal, since EEC drawn from new developments in Tale country by the consent of capitalism. Yours comradely Chris Madoc Thank you for Phil Hearse's interesting and informative articie on the USSR (Gorbachev's Gamble, Socialist Oulook, no. 9), However, there was one issue he neglected to discuss: how will the reform process affect the relationship between 'communism' and the Social Democratic parties in the wester world. It may he too carly to make a judgement, but there are already signs that Moscow may apply some glasnost to the historic breach of the Second and Third Intemationals. A more conciliatory attitude towards right wing social cumpean publications like World Marxist Review — is becoming increasingly evident, much to the consternation of a numher of 'pro-Moscow'
If Gorbachev should attempt to end the historic division between Social Unfortunately, Hearse's Connunism' then Democracy and revolutionary marxists may well henefit from the political differentiation that such a move would create. We should watch, and where possible, he involved in facilitating South Australia
SOCIALIST OUTLOOK no 11 December 1988/January 1989
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