New Labour failures feed right wing revival
WHILE TONY Blair's right wing cabinet colleagues continue to "think the unthinkable" and implement a programme of unpopular right wing policies, they could yet unleash a monster. Several opinion polls now agree that the Tory Party's electoral fortunes, which hit rock bottom in the 1997 General Election and have "flatlined" under William Hague, are showing signs of revival.
Hague's vicious band has not hesitated to exploit any opening offered to them by a New Labour team that has learned nothing from the failures of past Labour governments.
Blair's "partnership" with big business has come at the expense of alienating Labour's core support, and a widening gulf between rich and poor which feeds resentment. While failing to tackle the root cause of poverty, unemployment, poor housing, educational failure or NHS waiting lists, Blair's team has served to bolster racism and pandered to bigotry.
Jack Straw's reactionary attempts to make the last Tory Home Secretary Michael Howard look like a liberal have included a return to the discredited Tory notion of the "short sharp shock" for young offenders and a barrage of new, brutal attacks on asylum seekers.
The lesson of the last Labour government was that its neglect of the needs and demands of the working class, coupled with the passivity of the trade union leaders in the face of massive job losses triggered a growth in racist violence and fascist and far right organisations.
It was Labour's failure which opened up the space for Thatcher, who won in 1979 on a platform which included racist claims that the country was being "swamped" by immigrants. Already we can see grim signs that New Labour is leading us in the same direction.
Blair and his Millbank control freaks appear to be counting on fear of a Tory return to win them a second term. They hope workers will obediently rally round and vote Labour next time, no matter how little the government delivers.
The evidence so far is that these tactics are leading to a collapse of Labour's core vote, which in some areas could be enough to let the Tories in.
Our answer has always been that the key is in mobilising the working class to defend its own interests, in resistance to the onslaught on jobs, conditions and the welfare state - precisely the politics put forward by the London Socialist Alliance in the recent elections.
As the calendar counts down to the next general election, the need for a broad based challenge in the unions and across the labour movement to the passive politics of New Labour becomes ever more urgent.
Further coverage:
Renewing the left: the prospects after the London elections
London Socialist Alliance - a positive start