There is one main difference (and, in fact, only one) between this government and its predecessor. Con-Dem ministers boast shamelessly about the cuts they want to make on the backs of the working class, whereas Labour used to implement such cuts behind the scenes.
But apart from this, this government is showing exactly the same slavishness towards what it calls the "markets" - i.e. the speculators who caused the crisis - and towards the capitalist class as a whole. If the Con-Dems are more upfront about it, it is only because, unlike Labour, they have no need to woo working class voters, but every reason to placate the prejudices of their power base among the better-off middle class.
Following in Labour's footsteps
In fact, the Con-Dem's policies are merely the logical continuation of Labour's policies over the past two years. The same hypocritical excuse of the soaring public "deficit" justifies cutting benefits, jobs and services on the backs of the working class.
Never mind that this "deficit" was, in fact, caused by Labour's largesse to the capitalist class, which the Con-Dems enthusiastically supported at the time. Never mind, either, that the beneficiaries of this largesse are now speculating once more, thanks to the cash they received from public funds, betting against government bonds, and taking the risk of causing more havoc.
Under the pretext of this "deficit", which should be paid for, to the very last penny, by the capitalists who benefited from the last government's handouts, the Con-Dems are stepping up Labour's plans against public sector workers and the welfare system.
Labour's "helping the jobless back into work", remains top of the Con-Dem list. Just like under Labour, there is no question of helping the jobless into real jobs - only of harassing them off the register, possibly by adding the threat of benefit cuts. And just like under Labour, the most vulnerable are targeted - those on invalidity benefit!
The campaign launched by Cameron against public sector workers' pay and jobs is, likewise, a copycat version of Labour's own past campaign. "Cutting inefficiencies" is the watchword, regardless of the fact that staff shortages already plague so many areas of public services, due, precisely, to the job cuts implemented by Labour. Meanwhile, Cameron's list of the few hundred highest paid public sector officials is designed to conceal the low wages earned by the bulk of the 5 million public sector workers - exactly the same gimmick used by Brown last December!
In fact, not only are Labour's old austerity policies being pushed by the Con-Dems, but they are being pushed by the same people, who have been co-opted for this purpose by the new administration - from Labour figures like Frank Field and Will Hutton, to austerity "specialists" like Hooper and Gershon, who drafted the plans for some of Labour's cuts!
Threats are not enough, action is needed!
In response to the government's announcements, there have been precious few responses, and even fewer initiatives, from leading union circles.
Some Unite leaders, who seem mainly preoccupied with the current election for top jobs in their union, have made vague threats of a possible "reaction" to the austerity measures. But such threats ring hollow, especially as Unite was among a number of unions which chose to sign up to Brown's austerity measures in the civil service, at a time when the main low-paid civil servants' union, the PCS, was organising a national strike.
In fact, after the £6.2bn cuts announcement, which already threatens sizeable cuts in local government grants, the only response of the main unions concerned, was to stage a symbolic lobby outside the London offices of the Local Government Association. But nothing has been done so far to prepare for a proportionate response among local government workers, nor to publicise the consequences of these cuts among the population!
Yet, for all their tough talk, the Con-Dems, are not so sure that they won't cause a backlash - which is why they went out of their way to try to drive a wedge between public sector and private sector workers. And this lack of confidence should be turned into a weapon in our hands.
Because the only language that these politicians and their masters in big business understand is the collective determination expressed by whole sections of the working class taking action together. Yes, the anger of the working class and its refusal to foot the capitalists' bill, must be heard in the factories and offices, and in the streets. Then, and only then, will we able to stop the axe which threatens our collective livelihood!