Crude Declaration of Brutal Stepping Up of the Anti-Social Offensive and Austerity Agenda

Public Meeting April 25, Goldsmiths University,
London, Save Lewisham Hospital, Save Our NHSStrongly tinged with national chauvinism, the Queen’s Speech on May 8 began by declaring that the government’s legislative programme “will continue to focus on building a stronger economy so that the United Kingdom can compete and succeed in the world”. The “first priority is to strengthen Britain’s economic competitiveness”, via supporting “the growth of the private sector”. The government will stick to austerity; it “will continue to prioritise measures that reduce the deficit”.

The Queen also announced that the government “will also work to promote a fairer society that rewards people who work hard”.

This is code for further attacks on the conditions of the unemployed and underemployed and other vulnerable sections. “My government is committed to building an economy where people who work hard are properly rewarded. It will therefore continue to reform the benefits system, helping people move from welfare to work.”

These two aspects set the tone of the whole programme, a programme that continues to unleash the unrelenting all-round offensive on society, attacking the rights of all and enforcing monopoly right, imposing new arrangements affecting the sovereignty of the nations within the British state and opening up the path for further war.

CWU picket April 29, Burnley,
Protect the People's Post Office The monopoly media went into overdrive in promoting the most reactionary aspects of the Coalition’s third legislative programme within their five-year fixed term, even before the monarch enunciated the words of the ruling elite. Especially repugnant was the assault on the rights of all through focusing on immigration and migrants as constituting a problem for society. What has the government in store in terms of unleashing further assaults on the rights of migrants and minorities, and attempting to stir up trouble? It appears to be intent on creating the conditions for further anarchy and violence in order to prevent the people finding their bearings and uniting against the anti-social offensive and for the alternative.

The working class and people have demonstrated their profound opposition to the so-called “austerity” agenda of Cameron and Clegg. The Queen’s Speech was a declaration in the face of this opposition that this programme of paying the rich and fashioning society even further in every aspect to serve this programme will continue. This is a recipe for intensifying the economic crisis even further, but the Coalition government do not care. It is their aim to ensure the pre-eminence of the parasitism of monopoly capital.

WWIE calls on the working class and people to intensify their resistance to the fraudulent austerity programme, not to get diverted, but to strengthen their organisations of defence and resistance. It calls on them to further unite around fighting for the alternative, of increasing investments in social programmes, of putting the rights of all at the centre of considerations, and to change the direction of society from paying the rich to investing for the public good.

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March through Middlesbrough
for the alternative, April 27 Below we give a summary of some of the key bills of the 2013-14 parliamentary session.

Immigration Bill

The Immigration Bill erodes the rights of national minorities through facilitating deportations, restricting the right of appeal and giving more powers to immigration officers. This bill further entrenches the position of national minorities as second class members of society.

Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Bill

This catch-all bill lumps together “anti-social behaviour, crime and disorder, including provision about recovery of possession of dwelling houses; to make provision amending the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 … the Terrorism Act 2000 and the Extradition Act 2003; to make provision about firearms and about forced marriage”, with an increase in police powers. This furthers the trend of treating the problems and deteriorating conditions faced by the youth, deprived sections of society and national minorities as issues of law and order to be dealt with by crackdown measures and swift justice, as well as connecting this with “terrorism”.

Included in the same bill is a structural change to policing, replacing the Police Negotiating Board with a new Police Remuneration Review Body.

Pensions Bill

The Pensions Bill enforces private and monopoly right by further attacking the right to a livelihood and the claims of retired workers on the added value produced in the economy. The planned increase in the retirement age to 67 will be brought forward by eight years by this bill, as well as introducing a continual review of the retirement age.

Bound to the notion that pensions and other claims of workers on added value are a cost, the bill seeks to reduce the “costs” of pension provision to businesses, making it law for the pensions regulator to make such “cost” minimisation a consideration.

National Insurance Contributions Bill

This bill also starts from the capital-centred position that workers’ claims on added value are a cost. Taking this as a given, it seeks to provide small businesses with an incentive to employ people through a £2,000 allowance to mitigate their “cost”.

Care Bill

This bill entrenches the status of care being an individual rather than a social matter, while dressed up with measures that purport to mitigate the worst effects of this situation, such as introducing a cap on the cost of care and entitling people to a personal care budget.

At the same time, it attempts to further introduce market forces into the health and social care system by rating hospitals and care homes similarly to the notorious Ofsted rating of schools. Related to this, the bill will provide the chief inspector of hospitals with new powers to intervene.

Two new bodies, Health Education England and a Health Research Authority, will also be set up.

Intellectual Property Bill

Monopoly right over lucrative “intellectual property” will be strengthened with changes to be introduced by this bill to simplify and speed up the patent application process. This is part of implementing the Unified Patent Court, to create patents with EU-wide validity. The bill will also make violation of British patents a criminal offence.

Local Audit and Accountability Bill

This bill will abolish the Audit Commission for local authorities and the National Health Service in England and replace it with a new framework of local auditors. It will also introduce council tax referendums if a council wishes to raise tax above a defined level, using the banner of localism and accountability to divide people on the basis of whether to agree to improved services versus increased tax and spending.

Water Bill and Energy Bill

These two bills are yet another attempt to bolster monopoly right through increasing competition in the utilities industry.

The Water Bill will allow all customers, including those in the public sector, to switch supplier. The intention is for an enlarged and more liberal market, where it is easier for new water companies to enter and compete, as well as collude through easier water trading between suppliers.

The Energy Bill, though dressed in “green” terms, has the same aims, facilitating switching between companies.

Northern Ireland Bill and Wales Bill

Issues of governance, sovereignty and the national question will be stirred by the Northern Ireland and Wales Bills. The former of these constitution-changing bills will prevent members of the Northern Ireland Assembly also being members of the parliaments of Britain or the Irish Republic. Similarly, the latter will prevent MPs in the House of Commons from standing either in Welsh regional lists or in a constituency. It will also fix the terms of the Welsh assembly to five years.

Defence Reform Bill

In accordance with the Strategic Defence Review 2010, this bill seeks to ensure that Britain can maintain its interventionist and war-mongering role in the world, in the present conditions, through an increase in the size of the reserve forces.