One year on
One year on
In May 1997, the electorate overwhelmingly rejected the Tory Government, yet one year later we still suffer under their spending limits which have been implemented more stringently than the Tories themselves would have dared. The electorate voted for better public services and a fairer society. Of course, no one expected a radical transformation in a mere twelve months. But what do the priorities the Government has demonstrated so far tell us about the direction we're headed in?
Public sector wages have been cut in real terms, while corporation tax has been slashed -- not once, but twice -- to the lowest level in any major Western economy. The top rate of income tax remains untouched, the ceiling on National Insurance contributions remains untouched, pensions remain at insultingly low levels, free tuition for higher education has been abolished, and benefits for single parents have been cut. £750 million is lavished on an ego-enhancing Dome for Peter Mandelson while hospital waiting lists reach record highs and hospitals continue to close around the country. Jack Straw is handing draconian powers to local authorities to impose youth curfews and evict noisy neighbours, while his cabinet, like its Tory predecessor, starves councils of cash, forcing them to cut libraries, schools, and other facilities.
We were promised an economy managed in the interests of the many, not the few, and what we got was an independent (i.e. unaccountable) Bank of England, and interest rates choking off investment and costing jobs.
Of course, there have been positive measures which we would never have seen under the Tories -- the cut in VAT on fuel, the Scottish and Welsh referenda, the allocation of funds for childcare. Soon we'll have the minimum wage -- but the Government appears to have decided already that it will be set at the unacceptable and destructively low level of £3.50 and will not apply to young workers.
While the Government's own supporters have been asked to content themselves mainly with sound-bites and symbolism, the corporate sector gobbles up the tangible goods. Taken together, Private Finance Initiatives, Best Value schemes, Welfare-to-Work, and the proposed Education Action Zones represent a major colonisation of the public sphere by the private sector. The profits up for grabs here are enormous, as are the long-term costs to those who rely on public services.
Now the Government's eagerness to forestall any conflict with the CBI is making a mockery of our manifesto commitments on trade union recognition and other workplace rights. These commitments were widely recognised as an absolute minimum -- the result of numerous concessions made by the TUC during the long years of Tory rule. It is absurd for the TUC even to contemplate further dilution of such an elementary and modest proposal. Instead, the trade unions should mount a major public campaign, including large-scale demonstrations, to compel the Government to keep its promises.
All those Party members who campaigned for a Labour Government in good faith, believing that its pledges on workplace rights and the minimum wage were rock solid, should use whatever means they can find to put pressure on MPs and Party officials to deliver the goods. And should the Government attempt to force an unsatisfactory deal through the Commons, every single Labour MP will have the right and duty to stand up for a clear-cut manifesto commitment and oppose the Government in the House.
At Rupert Murdoch's request, Tony Blair asked the Italian Prime Minister whether a Murdoch bid for the Italian TV market would be well-received. The answer was no. Blair duly informed Murdoch and Murdoch revised his business strategy accordingly.
Like any tycoon, Murdoch knows the value of inside information, and is willing to pay for it. Unlike Bernie Ecclestone, he didn't actually have to write a cheque to the Labour Party to ensure the New Labour Government's co-operation. The continued support of the Murdoch media empire is worth far more to any politician than a mere cash donation, and everyone knows it.
The phone call was only one of several favours New Labour has performed for Murdoch. Two years ago, when Blair's initial tête-a-tête with Murdoch resulted in a reversal of Labour policy on cross-media ownership, LLB warned that the price of Murdoch's support in the general election would be exorbitant. Now Murdoch has made clear he wants to see the dismantling of public service broadcasting in the UK. It would take a brave soul to bet that he will not get his way.
What exists is a golden circle of access and influence, which ring-fences the Labour Government's aspirations and policies. Murdoch's media empire is a major threat to democracy. His domination of the airwaves and the printed page enables him to shape and mis-shape debate across continents. A prime duty of any government pledged to upholding democracy and protecting diversity must be to tame and ultimately dismantle this empire, along with the other major conglomerates of the communications industry. Instead, our New Labour Government helps him extend and entrench his power.
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