Tory confidence leads to pre-election cuts

Photo: Paul Glazzard CC

As a Prospect union rep in the Civil Service I can vouch for how hard pressed our members are across the various government departments. Overworked, facing changing contracts and anti-social hours with no real gain in pay, poorer conditions of service,falling job security and redundancy payments staff are hard pressed to keep services going.

Things are bad and about to get worse as the government announces more cuts. Mores to the point these cuts are to be introduced in 2019/20, the year running up to the election. A time when Brexit will also be taking place and effecting the country in a way we still cannot predict.

The Times (no link£) reported:

Government departments have been asked to find savings up to 6% in the year before the election it has emerged.

David Gauke, the  chief secretary to the Treasury, has written to cabinet colleagues this week asking them explore efficiency savings based on two scenarios: a reduction of 3 per cent and one of 6 percent from their 209/20 budgets.

Can you imagine?

The year before the election when governments usually spend money to attract support are planning swinging cuts. So confident they must be at winning.

Only the NHS and education are to be exempt and Defence only to face a maximum of 3% due to the NATO commitment of 2% of GDP.

The reason for this is quite clear. Who exactly threatens the government?  The Liberals despite a modest revival will never reach sufficient levels to threaten Tory dominance. Labour is tearing itself apart in internecine warfare as the mainstream attempt to rid the party of this "turbulent priest" one Jeremy Corbyn the most incompetent leader of the party, like ever.

And where is the man at the moment? He sent his deputies to fact the PLP last night as he refuses to face up not just to his personal failures but the monstrosity his followers have created. A rabble of the worst elements the so-called left has to offer.

The anti-austerity movement is nowhere. For nearly nine years we have faced cuts. Where will madame la guillotine fall next? There are no "easy" options left. Those have been used up. People are suffering but the left refuses to face to to the responsibility of actually gaining power.

Still used to shouting on demonstrations and social media buffeted and closeted by similar thinkers alongside them the comrades refuse to acknowledge the complexities of economy, politics and democracy. Their socialism is one that will need to imposed from the top. The world has seen this before. It was called "Stalinism". Dressing up old thinking in new straightjackets and quoting Trotsky or other Marxists does not impress.

The electorate rejected Labour in Copeland despite the threat of the loss of services. The old politics of leftism has passed it's sell-by date. A new social contract, a new social democracy is required to replace the outdated ideology of the last two centuries.

Dinosaurs went extinct for a reason. It's time the the politics of Corbyn to be sent to the rag and bone yard where they belong.

The Conservative party needs to be opposed. We cannot leave opposition to the like of John Major. The Labour Party, the trade union movement needs to be reborn. Awake comrades you only have the chains of Marxism to lose.