MAY 2 SEES local government elections for more. than 12000 council seats in England and Wales. The results will not only reflect public reaction to the 'close relative of the poll tax' proposals, but are likely to determine the date of the General Election.
The escalating crisis in local government combined with further Tory proposals for privatisation and education reform mean the stakes are now higher than ever. Cuts, capping and poll tax non-payment are leading to increasing levels of financial deficit and We hope you like this first fortnightly issue of Socialist Outlook. If you do, ensure your future copies by filling in the form and returning it without delav!
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Nurseries, adult education, libraries, youth services and voluntary sector funding are just a few of the areas where some councils now provide no more than the statutory miniPlans are on the table for compulsory opting out of schools, privatisation of whole swathes of support services such as legal and architects -even careers advice! The next Tory manifesto is likely to go even further and force the privatisation of bus services, leisure centres, museums, libraries and parks.
These attacks follow on the heels of local management of government of Further Education and Sixth form colleges, the imposition of the national curriculum, and compulsory government structure is again reviewed.
It is now no exaggeration to talk of local councils meeting once a year to award contracts now stated Tory policy! Selling off assets and removing public subsidies represents their plan to keep down the cost of services.
Hundreds of thousands of jobs are on the line. Pay and conditions are up for grabs. Society will be increasingly divided into 'haves' and 'have nots' or rather 'can pay' and 'can't pay so why should the state provide?'.
Response
The response of the Labour leadership? A spirited defence of local democracy and local services? A united stand with the local government trade unions and services users to demand adequate resources and an end to the sell offs? No chance!
Instead Kinnock's team offer continuing attacks on council workers, new realist hands to wield the axe on jobs and services, and bailiffs sent in to enforce the Tory poll tax.
Instead of lending support to non-payers and defence of services, fighting to kick the Tories when they're down and ut forward a real alternative Cinnock and his cronies choose another round of purges, launching a new witch nunt in Lambeth as they move Printed by Tridant Press, Edenbridge, Kent. Published by Idolrare Ltd, 377 City Road, London ECTV schools and colleges, the an- to make Labour a completely nounced take-over by central centralised, non-activist party.
A swing to Labour in the elections may well represent more of an anti-Tory vote than a positive vote for Kinnock's testing of school pupils. Local threadbare alternative. Neverauthorities are losing large theless it would serve as a areas of responsibility, or resounding 'no' in the subterfacing abolition, as local ranean referendum taking place on the Tories' poll tax alternatives and would raise the expectations of the working class. A boost for Labour on the to private companies - this is back of the anti-poll tax move Paragraph 16/Clause 25 ment can only serve to raise demands for a reversal of the decline in services and for a just and adequately funded system of local government finance. Further setbacks for the Government may herald its imminent demise.
A Labour vote must be com bined with a continuing battle to kill the poll tax now, to defend non-payers and fight attacks on local services, and to oppose new realism and witch hunts, putting forward a real alternative to Tory policies.