7th January 2023
Starmer and Sunak – New Year face off
In his New Year speech this week British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, promised to deliver on the “people’s priorities”. Needless to say he has fallen at the first hurdle by virtue of still being in office at the end of the week. The people’s number one priority is clearly to be rid of the self serving, tin eared government he leads but Sunak either missed or ignored that particular priority.
Sunak spotted that NHS waiting times are too long, not news to the rest of the population but as head of the government he is, at least in theory, in a position to do something about it. Sunak offered nothing. He did not even offer an apology for the years of failure under successive Tory governments, which has precipitated a health and social care crisis due to the austerity imposed on local government and the privatisation of the care sector, resulting in the obscenity of care for the elderly being run for profit.
In the NHS itself morale is so low that vacancies are running at 132,139 out of a workforce of 1.2 million. Vacancies amongst nurses alone is at 46,828 the highest on record. The strike action currently being undertaken by nurses and ambulance workers may soon be joined by junior doctors, who begin to ballot on Monday (9th January), with the prospect of three consecutive days of walkout in March.
It is now widely understood that a major source of pressure upon the NHS is the inability of hospitals to discharge otherwise medically healthy patients, if they need a social care package, as the pressure in that sector is so great due to funding cuts.
By 2040 it is estimated that the number of those aged 85+ years old will have doubled. Unless that age cohort are all living miraculously fit and healthy lives the pressure for social care will increase exponentially. Not only that but the surviving children of this age group will themselves be in their 50’s and 60’s, hardly in a position to easily provide informal care and in danger of having to make demands upon the care system themselves.
The situation is further exacerbated by the impact of Tory austerity cuts upon the arts, museums, libraries and sports services run by local authorities, all proven to be major contributors to maintaining physical and mental health and wellbeing, but increasingly under pressure.
Still, as one of Sunak’s big announcements was to make maths learning compulsory to the age of 18, the younger generation should be well positioned to count the cost of Tory errors.
Rather than seeking to address the source of the current wave of disputes, due to poor pay and conditions, rampant inflation and the cost of living crisis, Sunak plans new anti-strike legislation, first flagged by Liz Truss, to enforce “minimum service levels” in key public sector areas including the NHS and schools. To suggest that this has drawn a furious reaction from unions is an understatement, as pay awards for the current year continue to be off the government’s agenda for discussion with the unions.
Sharon Graham, the general secretary of the Unite union, said: “Yet again, Rishi Sunak abdicates his responsibility as a leader. Whatever the latest scheme the government comes up with to attack us, unions will continue to defend workers.”
It is clear that the “people’s priorities” that Sunak is trying to address are not the people on the frontline delivering the jobs and services on which the public depend. As is always the case with the Tories the only “people” being prioritised are the company bosses and shareholders, making a handsome profit for doing little but shelling out donations to the Tory Party in the hope of making it onto the next honours list.
Labour leader, Kier Starmer, also dipped his toes in the waters of a New Year speech this week, edging forward with characteristic caution in spite of Labour’s 20 point opinion poll lead. Starmer did at least promise to repeal any new anti-trade union legislation Sunak may bring in but did not address that already on the statute books. He continued to take the market reassuring line of “fiscal responsibility”, promising no big state cheque book and only to spend what is raised.
Quite what this will mean for the massive investment required to renew Britain’s ailing infrastructure, address the pay deficit in the public sector and tackle the inequities in the tax system remains to be seen. Starmer also promised more devolution, proclaiming “a new way of governing” which would take power out of the hands of Westminster and give it to the regions. It has a populist appeal but the realities on the ground rarely match the rhetoric.
The much discussed North East England devolution deal, recently agreed, promises £4.2 billion over 30 years. While this has got a lot of politicians in the region excited what is being promised barely repays what has been robbed from working class communities over many years in the first place. Secretary of State, Michael Gove, regards the deal as another victory for the so called levelling up programme.
The reality is however that, under capitalism, the playing field will never be level and the Tories, as the political representatives of their class, will always act in the interests of that class. Any real levelling up will only happen when the working class is represented by a political movement capable of doing the same in its interest.
Avanti Populo 