Lifting the lid on Thatcher's hidden should reign supreme in the general public in the the eyes of these radical (p. 13). The list includes Transport, British Rail, privatised, if necessary the Post Office, motor- involving the manage- Underground, London cales of public assets" finding "new ways of ment, work-force and British Coal, London conservatives. A lot The free market more should he agenda REVIEWS enterprise. Squalor is the preroga- indeed graphically demonstrated quite powerfully, I think, for the tive of the public sector." (p.18) majority of the public - the col- tion of the reforms undertaken: events in Eastem Europe, have They argue for an accelera- "We must intensify the assault Tapse of Eastem Europe as the evidence against state power: State as "socialist", and use - *The last ten years, and that affluence can only be delivered through private Group of Conservative MPs London SW1P ЗHH. Price by The 'No Turning Back' Office, 32 Smith Square, Responsibility The Conservative Political Conservative Central enabling state Published by the Available at the Choice and Centre
continental Europe what Japan is. and ruthless countries: "We can Asian states, We should set nur- amples of Hong Kong and Sin- the 'freedom' they advocate all selves the objective of being to Taiwan or even Japan? This is into one of the most exploited repeat their "goals of freedom draw inspiration from the ex- heing a worker in Singapore, gapore and other flourishing to continental Asia". Fancy along for Britain when they and prosperity". ment and we can read astounding way the thind world is used as the The same wonderful logic ap statements such as: "Market for- technology and expanding avail- (p.15). To justify this disarming assertion, they take the example over the capitalist world and the ces do not destroy the environ- of pollution in Eastern Europe, and simply ignore pollution all ahle resources, they protect it" plies of course to the environ- ment. By fostering high ways and so on. practice? "Our purpose should be on the very concept of individual dependence on state provision of security" (p.8) because "until the health care, education and social to wean people off welfare. We stormed, a socialist revival can advocate the systematic reform of the welfare system into one private agency system" (p.20). based on insurance - run on a It is all very logical - from How is this translated into final bastions of socialism are their point of view. You may never be discounted" (p.19). paign against as vigorously as Be prepared for a shock. This: Conservatives bookshop) the by beart, and go out and cam- simply fightening - the sort is (in the words of the bloke programme Thatcher would Reviewed by Nicole of stuff we should all know have got away with it! It is have adopted if she could who sold it to me at the tbey are arguing for it. Black
Wales, We are totally opposed to tional role of the army in defence *We utterly reject the creation of regional assemblies in England" capable of carrying out the tradi- Eastem Europe require a review Needless to say, the British state would have to be unilary: and we should build "an effec- haste in dismantling the anny. devolved parliaments in Nor- (p.10). This state will also be made secure, The changes in of the defence policy but not tive rapid deployment force them Ircland, Scotland and you own something, you want to reiterates the key ideas defended capitalist interests nationally and bumt, and not replaced, because state? Naturally, not. They want Another type of argument 15 interationally to be reinforced. But are the authors really in that of ownership given that if favour of doing away with the Brazilian rain forest is being First of all, the pamphlet it is not owned by anyone" the state which will defend protect if, Therefore, "The dustbin of the West. ing block of society - the family" What does it really mean? For in its dealing with the very build- State will no longer guarantee, it wonder how people are going to family, * We do not believe that belief in the family as the build- be looked after when they need it. There is a simple answer: the the family to be able to provide the state can be morally neutral needs to be a stable unit, and the services that the Welfare ing block of socicty" (p.12). proclaim unequivocally our (p.8) or if you prefer: "We the family. In all arcas of socicty, ability of the left to retake the of- desire to "roll back the frontiers" not provide, but enable; not stifle the nation, the 'free society" and the role of the state is envisaged number of clements concerning but l'acilitate, not control to the as she said): "The state should The pamphlet deals with a Such a pamphlet acts as a powerful reminder of the in- fensive against such violent as a reduced one (true to the
privatised prisons, and a stronger Page 31 wither - has to be 'protected' by Why have they been allowed no opposition. Kinnock, you are within the state - which will not programme, and they encounter to get away with it? Because so many of their policies now find Of course, the poor citizen of British trade" (pp.16-17). their echo in Labour's pathetic. police. is to come. What they really have als and international finance, this can seem quite ironic, But more people who defend multination- Bruges speech, namely uphold- bureaucralic or socialist control ing the supreme sovereignty of in mind is to transform Britain the UK, against the so-called by another parliament, with by Thatcher in her famous Europe for example. From another currency. Such as parents "automatic entitlement to and to reconsider the position on from outside. Hence the attempt state support": to "impress upon "statutory 'cooling of period": to stop voluntary single puren- divorces by making the proce- people should not expect help parents that fatherlood is for thood by not granting single life", to limit the number of dures mor difficult with a SOCIALIST OUTLOOK no 29. December/January 1990/91 not the apparatus that defends the every public service possible and sense: the state they talk about is minimum extent possible* (p.8). capitalists whether small or big. but certainly not in the Leninist the Welfare State, and certainly They even go so far as suggest- ing a "withering of the state" - They describe this Welfare maximum, hut regulate to the In other words, privatise position of the ruling class. give maximum freedom to
Taunch their health and education blind eye to their bloody warfure support the rural rich, and tum a will save the forest. Their future defenders of the Amazon whose interests coincide with those of It is unfortunately an indict- depend for money on Christian enemies are the very ones who will be determined by the muc- Britain and clecwhere that the Aid and Oxfam, to be able to rubber tuppers union had to ment of the trade unions in ugainst the forest dwellers. the urban workers whose cess or failure of the real