The new Tory-Lib Dem coalition government claims to be heralding in a 'new politics'. But a large layer of workers throughout Britain have recoiled in horror at the prospect of a Tory-dominated government, because of the vivid memories of the devastation caused in the years when Margaret Thatcher was prime minister. Here Robin Clapp, south west Socialist Party secretary, assesses Thatcher's legacy.
She stood in Downing Street after her first election victory in May 1979 and spoke the soothing words of St. Francis of Assisi: "Where there is discord, may we bring harmony. Where there is error, may we bring truth. Where there is doubt, may we bring faith. Where there is despair, may we bring hope."
Nine years later, after a ferocious assault upon the living standards and democratic rights of the working class, the mask of healer had slipped revealing the real face ofMargaret Thatcher. Once again she sought religious guidance, but this time the words came from St Paul: "If a man will not work he shall not eat."
Thatcher's reign was a nightmare for workers. Even before she became leader of the Tory Party in 1975 she earned the title 'milk snatcher' for withdrawing free school milk from school students when she was minister for education....
Read the full article here: http://www.socialistparty.org.uk/articles/9735
By Robin Clapp
In a week where spiv firms like G4S have shown they couldn't organise a proverbial in a brewery and hospitals are told they're bankrupt because PFI contracts have begun to, predictably, go belly-up, it might have been advisable for Bristol City Council's Lib Dem leadership to hold back from their announcement that they intend giving up on providing public care homes in favour of seeking partnerships with the private sector.
Eight care homes will close across the city, displacing over 200 residents and costing the jobs of over 300 dedicated staff.
This comes on top of the privatisation of the home care service and drastic cuts in grants to the voluntary sector.
Previously even the Tories blanched at these steps before dutifully falling behind their coalition partners, while the New Labour leaders seem either to have undertaken a collective vow of silence or, at most, are timorously asking whether this step is wise. Not a word about what they would do.
Under the guise of offering "consumer choice",councillors have resorted to mouthing increasingly discredited platitudes like "social enterprise" and "not for profit provision" as offering the best ways ahead.
Yet just up the road in south Gloucester, BBC's Panorama last year exposed the scandal of where these words can lead when the "make a quick buck and cut costs to the bone" private sector gets its snout into the care budget.
This example is one of many. All three mainstream parties are in it together in town halls, preparing cutsthat represent an ideological attack on public welfare and social provision.
So it's left to the trade unions, community groups, service users and the anti-cuts alliance to sound the alarm bells and spell out the catastrophe that lies ahead for elderly and vulnerable people if this privatisers' charter gets the green light. We'll be lobbying the Cabinet on 26 July, then the full council meeting.
We'll demand there that the council should immediately use its £60 million reserves to plug any urgent spending gaps and renew and update the current in-house provision. A city-wide campaign of opposition will then be stepped up.
The private sector cannot provide good quality services. The Bristol and District anti-cuts Alliance (BADACA) will stand shoulder to shoulder with all those who are prepared to resist this latest assault and campaign for a national, publicly funded social care service based on need.
In BEDMINSTER vote Robin CLAPP on 5th May for Bristol City Councillor - Trade Unionists & Socialists Against Cuts - "A socialist and committed community activist, I will oppose all cuts to jobs and services as I did successfully in leading the 2008 campaign to keep Marksbury Road library open."
http://www.facebook.com/TUSCBristol
Tomorrow, 22nd February 2011, the full Bristol City Council meets to approve its cuts budget for the following year. Cuts amounting to at least £28 million will be announced and these will have a devastating effect on the people of Bristol, especially those most vulnerable who rely on services and those whose jobs will be cut. The implications for everyone will be huge. Bristol & District Anti-Cuts Alliance has organised a lobby of the Council in the afternoon and evening - starting at 1pm, with the Council meeting due to start at 2pm. Please come along and bring banners and placards. As Robin Clapp is quoted in the Bristol Evening Post - "It's clear we are not 'all in this together'. We want to direct our anger in a constructive way and take heart from the U-turn over the forestry sell-off. This is a great crusade of opposition."
http://www.bristolanticutsalliance.org.uk/diary/
