THEY say that patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel, and Gordon Brown proved the point yesterday when he began his forward to Labour’s multi-page election manifesto/book,(which very few Labour voters will read), by wrapping himself in the Union flag (the ‘Butcher’s Apron’).
He stated that ‘This General Election is fought as our troops are bravely fighting to defend the safety of the British people and the security of the world in Afghanistan . .
Donning the mantle of Churchill, he added ‘At the same time the world has been rocked by the first great crisis of the new global economic age.’ The man who claimed that he had taken the crisis out of capitalism now admits that there are more great crises ahead.
To make things worse: ‘The expenses scandal has undermined the bond of trust between the people and the politicians elected to serve them.
‘So this cannot, and will not, be a “business as usual” election or Manifesto. In this Manifesto we set out plans to address the main future challenges we face in our economy, our society and our politics.’
It turns out that the government will have to make the people accept huge sacrifices to rescue capitalism from its crisis, in a situation where the trust between politicians and the people has broken down.
A ticklish situation indeed. This situation is in fact a recipe for revolution.
Starting from his premise, Brown was only able to hint at what the masses are about to receive from their capitalist government.
The boldest thing that he was able to admit is that he remains a Blairite and that the manifesto ‘builds on and takes forward the reforms we have undertaken since 1997.’
It is to be business as usual after all – privatisation, privatisation and yet more privatisation, in a situation of huge and deepening crisis.
He is in fact the arch privateer, the sponsor of the PFI system that fleeces the taxpayer to give the bosses huge profits of up to 1000 per cent. He insisted under questioning that the PFI swindle of the taxpayer will continue.
Among Labour’s manifesto commitments are pledges not to raise income tax rates, and not to extend VAT to food, or children’s clothes – it does not pledge not to raise VAT, and Brown refused to commit to that when questioned.
As is now well known, as the capitalist crisis deepens Brown will do everything that is necessary to aid the bankers. If that means increasing VAT and imposing it on food and children’s clothing he will do it.
Labour promised not to raise income tax in its 2005 manifesto, but went on to abolish the lower 10p rate of tax for the lowest paid workers, and bring in the 50p rate.
Brown said he did not want to take such measures but ‘had to’ because of the banking crisis.
‘I accept that we had to take the action that was necessary to deal with the world financial crisis,’ he said. So it was then, so it will be in the future.
Brown added: ‘Labour will be restless and relentless reformers. Reformers of the market and reformers of the state.’
However the bankers are back on their super bonuses and speculating as before, while he is the champion of the strong state, insisting that the innocent should be on a permanent DNA database, so that they are guilty until they are proven otherwise. He is the arch builder of the arbitrary power of the state.
He said yesterday he wanted a Britain where anti-social behaviour and crime were ‘dealt with quickly’ and those who did not get redress would be able to take out an injunction at the expense of their local authority ‘to secure the justice against anti-social behaviour that you need’.
Other plans involve the mass closures of schools and hospitals under the cover that all hospitals have to qualify to be foundation trusts, and all ‘under-performing’ schools are to be taken over by a successful schools or by a private management or closed.
The manifesto does state that the £178bn budget deficit will be halved by 2014, making for £25bn of cuts a year.
It does not spell out that this will mean imposing huge cuts in government expenditure, that will mean the destruction of the NHS, the sale of the public sector and the welfare state, and millions losing their jobs.
The essence of the current crisis is that to maintain the Welfare State and the NHS the working class will have to put an end to capitalism in the days ahead and go forward to socialism, through a socialist revolution. There is no alternative to this strategy.
I
