The mask has slipped- the full horror of the Neo Con government has now been revealed. Those commentators who claimed to see a sleight of hand and predicted that the leaks surrounding the Review were to lay a false trail, so that the actual announcements would not seem so bad should never have a shot at the lottery- their predictive skills would not see a closed door before they bumped into it. At a later date UNISONActive will fully review the economics of the announcement. Today we will concentrate on the politics. http://www.unison.org.uk/acrobat/2010SpendingReviewAnalysis1.pdf
The review is intended to be the beginning of the end of the post war political settlement. Cameron and Osborne have consistently lied to the British people about the nature of the economic problems facing the country; either that or they are so blinded by ideology that they believe their own hype. This is not a Con Dem government. Some leading members of the Liberal Democrat Party have sold their souls, their integrity and their intellectual beliefs to provide us with a Government that is applying the economics of Milton Friedman - the economics that believes in the absolute freedom of the market, and the end of all state intervention, believing fairness is in what the market provides and that inequality is the natural result of market forces.
Osborne’s clear predecessor is General Pinochet. The motto of these neo cons is clear- Let the rich get rich and the poor go to hell. Inequality in Chile grew faster in under the General than anywhere else in the western world even during the Great Depression. But then all regulation of the economy vanished (Bonfire of the quangos did someone say?) All measures of redistribution vanished. All opposition was crushed.............!
The economy in Chile incidentally also went disastrously off the rails. But those at the top of society did nicely. The cynical cuts in the welfare system and in housing are clearly aimed at those already in poverty and are sure markers of the Government’s intentions.
In these circumstances, we need to say what we actually believe in. So I have no hesitation in saying that what we are faced with is class war. The gains that the workers of this country have made over the course of the last half century or more are no longer simply under threat- their tanks are now on our lawns. This is no longer about pay cuts or freezes. It is about defending the rights of the working class, our beliefs in equality and justice and community.
Let those who would defend those beliefs on those terms join us. It will not be a short campaign. It will not be supported by glitterati and the media. There won’t be a BBC telethon to raise funds for us- real politics isn’t cuddly. It must genuine community campaigning - not sticking up a poster on the side of a bus or sending a postcard to an MP.
Please be prepared to stick our head above the parapet. Unity is our only hope
