The Labour leadership has declared war on the Welfare State. Gordon Brown's speech of January 20 in which he pledged that Labour would freeze pub. lic spending for three years and stick to the departmental limits set in Clarke's last budget was a decisive moment. The drastic for already CUHSCUUCHCCS crumbling services if this road is stuck to are spelled out elsewhere (p 8).
Blair's attacks on single mothers back up this stance, not only in the empuness or their content but in the determination to paint "wel. fare' as a dirty word. His arrogant disregard for the reality of real peo. pies Hyes inores both the lack of affordable, decent child care provia decent wage.
Police BIll
Labour's overall support for the Police Bill will, as we point out (p4) reduce the number of childminders. Nor does it answer why single parents should be deprived of choice as to whether to spend some of their lives primarily bring children if this choice is available to those parents with partners, single parents have been much scape-goated by the Tories -now Blair takes up the call.
Public sector workers will fare no better. Brown has made it plain that a Labour government will ref. proposals for public sector workers if they exceed Tory spending lim.
To make sure public sector workers put up with whatever Brown offers them a Labour government will retain every single piece of anti-union legislation introduced by the Tories.
When these laws were being pushed through Parliament, La. bour MPs, including the front bench, correctly denounced them as attacks on the unions. Today Labour's front bench refers to them as "reforms'.
Of course Labour had previ ously made fairly evident that it tor workers or those who rely on the hospitals, schools or benefits that have been ravaged by the Tories.
The idea that Labour was the arty of txx anyway given that Callaghan and Wilson brought in spending cuts -had already been laid to rest. Despite this, as the unofficial election campaign mounts and the lores continue to flounder, the leadership clique want to present themselves as completely different from their predecessors.
New Labour has nightmares about the 'Winter of Discontent' as the media constantly reminds us. So they are determined to try to tion from working people that • that there is any point in organsins or acmonstrauns ict done striking.
Pressure
The pressure that has built up for ycars where trade union lead. ers and politicians have told those who have argued for action against the iniquities of the Tories that they must wait for a Labour government means that this target is probably impossible.
So the message of Brown and Blair is not only addressed to the floating voters and the city but to Labour's working Class base Workers should expect nothing from Labour that they are not al ready getting from the Tories.
Labours catnusiasm Tor England hosting the 2006 football World Cup finals • hardly a vote winner in Scotland and Walesany. way - involves a bi-partisan camNell Murray On January 29 Labour's NEC endorsed proposals which could turn the party into a rubber stamp for the parlia. mentary leadership.
The prime aim of the measures contained in the 30-page document • a framework for partnership is to ensure that the party can no longer call a Labour government to account. In the clear that neither it nor the party should operate as a kind of shadow or watchdog of Labour in power. secking principally to police the op. erdaons of the crected government."
Thus, for this current, housetraned Net, a Labour government should not be accountable to the these reforms the Party will be able to support a new Labour governclection."
The purpose of the party is not co decide what policy is in the best interests of the movement and then it out, but to support it and ensure its re-election whatever it does.
Denias that the proposais are War on the welfare state to cuddle up to the City: Gordon Brown paign with the Tories!
But this desire to appear the party of fiscal prudence may well is a danger that their refusal to raise the top rate of tax or announce any other measures to rescue the wasteland of Britain's towns and cities will demoralise those who did believe that Labour would be better than the Tories This is already evident in the To be ousted? Skinner designed to neuter Party conference ring hollow. It is argued that conference will remain the sovereign stituencies and unions retaining the power to submit resolutions. In fact the National Policy Forum rather than conference Conference would discuss and vote on reports - but reports drawn up by cabinet or Shadow Cabinet NHS.
A recent ICM survey for Nurs. ing Times revealed that 78 percent ready scrious staff shortages, and two thirds of these thought that patients were being put at risk.
Hardly surprising therefore, given Brown's support for Clarke's policies, that 41 percent of nurses trusted no party on the NHS.
At best Labour may offer "jam members rather than discrete reso.
lutions from component bodies.
The National Policy Forum would be senty ence. ou there are no plans to make it more accountable or democratic. The move to make conference a "pres.
entation by the leadership is obvious.
At the same time other clauses will weaken the NEC - turning it from a body which, at least at omes.
however mutedly, can call the partween conferences, into a support group for the leadership.
It would meet only every two months instead of monthly as at shadow the government's prodeal with issues such as organisation, finance etc wuld be abolished paigning (for which read election.
bering) would become the main policy. Policy would be shunted off to a joint committee drawn from the government and NEC. but with an in-built leadership majority.
changes in its composition are de.
signed to prevent any of the 'awk.
ward squad getting elected. tomorrow' - or more likely, in a few years time if Brown decides the coun try can afford it' - as Chris Smith reputedly does in a soon to be made specch. But even "jam tomorrow' is not going to reverse swingeing cuts in the welfare state and stop the loss of desperately needed stalf.
The need to step up campaigning in defence of existing services and to demand the rebuilding of the Welfare State has never been more urgent.
While trade union representation would be retained, the constituency and women's representatives would eace oy resenten tor local government, the Cabinet, conmembers and MPs elected SUBTRY by their fellow MPs.
This would ensure that popular left MPs. such as Dennis Skinner who have widespread support among the rank and file member.
ship, our who are out of tune with the majority in the PLP, could not But erected Many will claim these proposals are nothing like as bad as a simple severing or the rarty-union link, or those flagged up by the Labour Coordinating Committee, Nothing could be further from the truth.
They are likely to be the first slice reduce the ability of the unions (and CLPs) to affect policy.
They would begin to turn the party into the election machine which uncritically supports a Labour government with a once-a-year showpiece conference for the lead.
ership to preen themselves in front of the media.
They must be fought at every union conference and a major war waged aginst them at this years Labour Party conference.
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