Article from the Sept. 2006 issue of the Socialist
newspaper of the Socialist Party, Irish section of the CWI

Rate rises - water charges - cuts – privatisation

WE'VE HAD ENOUGH!

Mass action to resist New Labour attacks

By Ciaran Mulholland

NEW LABOUR have made clear their real agenda for Northern Ireland. Forget about the November talks deadline and all the bluster about a peace process. Labour's real agenda is not "peace"; it is a declaration of war on the living standards of working class people - Catholic and Protestant alike.

On the one side, rate rises are putting an impossible burden on the budgets of many working class families. Water charges, now only eight months away, will cut living standards further. Meanwhile New Labour's policy is to hold wages down. On the other side, the public services on which working class people depend are under attack as never before with cuts and privatisation the order of the day.

Government Ministers have tried to hide their plans to dismantle services, but a leaked document from the Treasury to Peter Hain sets out the savage attacks that are in the offing.

The Treasury letter proposes the introduction of road tolls, the selling off of public buildings worth £1 billion, a reduction in public sector housing costs and an annual cut in administration costs for all government departments of 5%.

It says "costs and performance" in the health service must be brought "into line with England’s levels". Health expenditure here is 6.5% higher than in England, but is actually lower in real terms when factors such as the greater level of deprivation and the more rural community in Northern Ireland are taken into account.

The number of school age children in the North is falling. In an advanced society this would lead to smaller class sizes. New Labour, however, is using it as an excuse to close schools.

Up to now the government has tried to deny that one reason for the introduction of water charges is as a step towards water privatisation. The leaked Treasury document exposes this lie. It states; "You are establishing a government-owned water company in 2007 and we have agreed as part of the water reform package that options for greater private sector involvement in the medium term should be considered".

This offensive by the government must be resisted. There is no use in looking to the local political parties to do anything. All the MLAs are concerned about is finding some way to keep collecting their salaries after the November talks deadline.

In any case they support the pro market, pro business policies of New Labour and would do much the same if they were in power.

We need to build a united movement of working class people, Catholic and Protestant, that can defeat the government. Trade unions and genuine community organisations should link the struggles against cuts, against privatisation and against water charges.

A day of action called by the unions to defend public services and oppose the rate hikes and water charges would get a massive response.

The We Won’t Pay Campaign, which is preparing for mass non payment of water charges is leading the way in organising a fight back. A defeat for the government on this issue could upset their whole agenda.