23.05.1996

Education in Labour firing line

As the next general election looms, the political agenda is moving even more to the right - so watch out

As the Tories start to disintegrate even further, the Labour Party is stepping in to fill the breach. Terrified of blowing it at the last minute, the Labour machine is working overtime to convince the bosses and their media that they are ‘fit for government’. No wild taxation plans, no public spending orgy - no nothing, in fact.

Students are one of the first to be in the Labour firing line. David Blunkett has added up his figures and come to the conclusion that by abolishing student grants - no more free degrees - the next Labour government would save £1 billion a year. Instead, Blunkett wants to introduce a system of extended loans.

So, what about working class students who are already suffering extreme hardship and poverty? Simple. Blunkett just does not care. Just as in the United States the working class has become the invisible class, whose needs do not matter - which Blunkett made obvious when he claimed: “The great advantage of this scheme is that it helps substantially the middle and lower-middle income parents.”

Education, according to Labour - and the National Union of Students, which welcomed Blunkett’s ‘conversion’ - should be open and accessible to all ... so long as they have a friendly bank manager, that is.

Jack Straw is getting even tougher on criminals, in a bid to mollify the tabloids. He has proposed a single final warning for young offenders to replace the current system of repeat cautions. He described this as an attempt to “nip offending in the bud.” Meanwhile, Gordon Brown has announced that a future Labour government will engage in “full-scale consultation” with the City of London before joining a European single currency.

Civil war is simmering in the Tory Party, as they face defeat. Major has decided to appease the Eurosceptics, by going to ‘war’ with Europe over the beef ban. Sabre-rattling seems the order of the day, with Michael Howard launching a fierce attack on the European Court of Justice for its constant ‘meddling’ into British affairs. Even the ‘leftwing’ Stephen Dorrell has being singing the praises of Margaret Thatcher, describing her as a ‘one nation’ Tory who was right all along.

This is only a little taste of the future to come. We must not let them get away with it.

Paul Greenaway