16.11.1995

No future under Labour

GORDON BROWN, in an interview last Thursday with The Daily Telegraph, gave us a glimpse of what life would be like under a future Labour government.

After 16 years of vicious Tory rule there is a widespread feeling that Labour ‘can’t be as bad as the Tories’. However, Brown’s schemes to “modernise” and “reform” the welfare state reveal that they can be as bad, if not worse.

Brown outlined his proposed “welfare to work” scheme which would force all those aged between 18 and 25 to either join a training scheme or accept a job. If they refuse, they will automatically lose 40% of their income support.

The victims of Brown’s scheme - which, of course, has no similarity at all to US-style workfare - were told quite bluntly that “life on permanent benefit” would no longer be an option under a Blair government. This must come as news to the young unemployed, who presumably had no idea that they were living the good life on £36.80 a week. Thanks to Gordon Brown they can look forward to a less luxurious £22.08.

Of course, they can always gratefully accept one of Brown’s new jobs. One drawback though. The (purely hypothetical) proposed national minimum wage will almost certainly not apply to the under 25s, so it is a clear case of ‘damned if you do and damned if you don’t’.

Brown will soon be setting out his plans to give similar ‘assistance’ to single parents, the long-term unemployed and those made redundant.

The Tory press is having a field day. The rightwing journalist, Boris Johnson, mockingly commented: “We must take it on trust that Labour has some non-invasive, laser-operated keyhole surgery in mind for the welfare state, which can make cuts without making cuts” (The Daily Telegraph, November 9).

If Brown was not explicit enough, Tony Blair’s address to the Confederation of British Industry on Monday certainly was. He reassured the bosses that Europe-wide social legislation would not be automatically adopted by an incoming Labour government.

Blair went out of his way to stress that the social chapter and the minimum wage would only be implemented after full ‘consultation’ with industry. Thus, Labour’s proposed low pay commission would include business representation to determine a “desirable level” for the minimum wage.

Sir Bryan Nicholson, the CBI president, gave Blair almost the ultimate accolade, stating that he appeared to be in tune with government policy: “I didn’t hear the leader of the opposition say anything that was essentially different.”