IT WAS all change yesterday in the Blair cabinet and no change at all at the same time, as leading cabinet members were sacked while the policies of the cabinet remained exactly the same.
This contradiction is the product of a situation where the policies of the Blair government, the privatisation of the NHS and education, its attacks on basic rights and pensions, as well as its foreign policy of being the US’ chief military helper, are about as popular as a dose of cyanide.
An example of this unpopularity was seen at the recent UNISON Health and RCN trade union conferences where the Education Secretary, Hewitt, was booed, jeered and catcalled.
Nevertheless, the government is determined to carry on and even speed up the implementation of all of these detested policies. The government’s base in the working class is now very angry, and has become very unforgiving.
The nine years of the three Blair governments have been punctuated by numbers of scandals including those involving ex-cabinet ministers such as Peter Mandelson and David Blunkett.
They went and the anger subsided. Today however, the combination of hated policies and scandalous political conduct, as seen in the cavortings of John Prescott and the hoisting of Charles Clarke on his own security petard, has resulted in Labour’s crash in the council elections, with much worse to come.
The working class will not tolerate Blair’s continuing drive to destroy the Welfare State, and it will not forgive ministers such as Clarke, whose role in the House of Commons was to bring in Bill after Bill sweeping basic rights aside in favour of ‘security’ through ever more draconian measures, only to be exposed as a Home Secretary who let thousands of criminals return to the community.
Blair knew that Clarke had to be sacked. He went to the gallows like a lamb, actually believing the Blair spin that he would be allowed to remain to clear the mess up, as Blair told the House of Commons.
As soon as the council election polling stations were closed he was sacked by Blair. He was still in a state of shock yesterday. Now he knows what the summary justice he has been advocating feels like.
Blair in fact used the axe on his cabinet to try and reinstate his government, and ready it to continue the war with the working class.
Reid has been brought in to replace Clarke. He is a loyal servant of imperialism, who began his political life in the Communist Party. As the crisis of the government has developed he has repeatedly answered the call to plug breaches in the cabinet.
In recent times he has been Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Minister Without Portfolio and Party Chair, Leader of the House of Commons and President of the Council. As the crisis has speeded up, in rapid succession he has been Health Secretary, Secretary of State for Defence, and now Home Secretary.
Having dealt with Clarke, Blair then neutered Prescott, removing all of his political departments while keeping him as Deputy Prime Minister, thus avoiding a parliamentary election over a job vacancy which could easily turn into a referendum on his leadership.
Blair also sacked the Foreign Secretary Straw, moving him on to be Leader of the House of Commons. Straw has not been as enthusiastic about the coming attack on Iran as is required, and Blair is getting shot of him in good time.
To make room for Straw, Blair has created the post of Minister for Europe for Hoon. He is to be half a foreign secretary. The other half for the rest of the world is Margaret Beckett. It is Blair who will be pulling their strings.
To prove that he means business as far as speeding up privatisation, Blair is keeping Hewitt as Health Secretary, despite, or because health workers are so hostile to her, and moving Alan Johnson, the ex-CWU leader and now a privatising minister, to be education secretary, to establish the education market.
Blair has taken these measures to shore up his class war cabinet.
In the coming days it will be met head on by the working class. The trade unions must be prepared to bring this government down and go forward to a workers’ government as the only way to achieve socialism and keep the Tories out.
