tive reply. capable of pulling ahead in the opinion polls, but Labour has been put on the defensive in the debate over taxes. Why?
'New realist policies have caught Kinnock in a double bind. On the one hand Labour denounces income tax cuts on the grounds that money is needed for social welfare and investment; on the other Labour is rigorously avoiding all promises other than that of a national minimum wage. The refusal to make any promises or commitments gives Labour a tremendous credibility problem Take the NHS. This is above all Labour's strong issue in terms of public perception. But will Labour devote real new resources to the NHS? From Robin Cook's pronouncements it is quite impossible to tell. Like everything else, apparently it all depends on 'growth All opinion polls have shown that there is a big majority in favour of more public welfare spending rather than further tax cuts. But most workers, hard pressed by inflation are understandably not too keen on higher national inYet not only is Kinnock insurance payments for no known benefits.
To say that Labour lacks a crusading alternative, or an inspiring vision of the future, is the understatement of the year. The prospects for a new deal in Britain, according to Messrs Smith, Kinnock and Beckett, depend entirely on the promise that Labour government will deliver economic growth. But who, in their heart of hearts, really belleves that?
Labour's electoral bind stems from the Kinnock leadership's obsessive search for right wing respectability. Under Kinnock there will be no peace dividend through defence spending cuts; complete obedience to the deflationary diktats of the European Monetary System;
better. put up taxes in return for very little. trau defaulters! control. ship which has tied them.
Labour's only real strong point is that they are not the Tories. But without a clear alternative Labour's campaign is desperately vulnerable to the Tory accusation that they will Meanwhile Labour continues to abysmally fail to capitalise on Tory blunders. Where was the promise to keep Ravenscraig steel plant embarrassment on the Poll Tax, David Blunkett promises a ruthless campaign against And of course, ironically, in the face of an elaborately co-ordinated campaign jointly run by the Tory newspapers and Conservative central office, Labour has nothing to say about the structure of newspaper ownership and In a year when the defeat of the Tories is vital, Labour is fighting with its hands tied behind its back. Alas, it is the Labour leaderInstead the crying nood is for a big injection of capital and revenue funding into health authorities and local coun cils to enable them to put in place a system of sheltered housing, work, day centres and trained sommunity-basec upoor Tor dischard papents de ifferers who have never been i People with mental illness must be given the legal right to care and support, and the existing legislation which theoreticaly obliges health authorities and colorile to arounte sarcas mus be enforced, with resources for commanny care me fenced and supervised by a minister for community care. far greater resources than any Tory government will provide: to win it wil require a political fight under a future Labour government. ...*.. No. 15 Feb. 1, 1992
open? Gordon Brown pointedly refused to make such a promise because it is a business decision'. And to capit all as the Tories hit new