Sunak is adamant that workers should not get a pay rise.  He says this will be “inflationary”.  And that it would make the current cost-of-living crisis even worse.  Yes, the old wage-price spiral lie is back again.  But it’s still a lie.

    However, one can only wonder how much Sunak actually understands.  When he speaks at the despatch box or is interviewed (as on Sunday, by the BBC) he tells us in school-masterly tones, that inflation. . .  is caused by inflation!  He explains that rising inflation, i. e. , the rising measure of price increases over the past year - is caused by price increases!  He often adds that it’s also due to “too much spending”. . .  implying that workers, whose pockets have been empty at least since 2008, have too much money.  Yes, at a time when 1 in 14 people are needing to use a food bank.

    So it turns out that the country is being ruled by an ex-Chancellor of the Exchequer (and ex-banker) who hasn’t got a clue about how the economy works.  And neither (of course) has Jeremy Hunt, his trusty side-kick who just offered mortgage holders the chance to go “interest only” after mortgage rates went up to 5% - claiming this will lower their costs!  When all it does is kick the debt into the long grass, leaving punters to pay off a lump sum which is likely to be even less affordable when it becomes due!

    That said, anyone with a shred of honesty and an understanding of the workings of capitalism (a system whose sole aim is to increase profit) would be obliged to draw the conclusion that it’s untenable and has to go.  For the past 120 years, after spreading all over the world, it has only been able to resolve its contradictions through war, death and destruction!

    But back to inflation, which isn’t behaving as the Bank of England predicted.  It was meant to be going down by now, since it compares the rate of price increases this year, to last year.  So the further we get into 2023, the higher the comparable 2022 rate - and the lower this year’s rate. . .   provided, of course, that prices aren’t increasing!

    So if inflation is “stubbornly high”, it means price increases this year, relative to last year, are even greater.  And yes, it’s due to ruthless profiteering by all the shops and services we pay for.  Supermarket bosses deny all knowledge.  Have they unwittingly been taken over by price-manipulating AI-bots, then?

    Price inflation doesn’t just happen by itself.  Real-life persons are screwing prices up and screwing wages down.  But if the working class is to eat, heat and treat itself, the fight for higher wages cannot be suspended.  Where it has been called off, it needs to be resumed.  Because quite literally, we cannot afford to lose.

On 5th July it will be exactly 75 years since the NHS was founded.  But there is no fanfare.  In fact the government would prefer it if news about the NHS disappeared completely from the public’s radar.

    Not only have junior doctors announced an unprecedented 5-day strike over their pay, starting 13 July, but NHS consultants just voted by 86% to strike on 20 and 21 July.  That this “class” of professionals has been pushed to the point of taking industrial action - just like the rest of us ordinary mortals - says it all!

    And then there’s the King’s Fund report, published this Monday, which compares NHS performance to that of health services in other similar wealthy countries.

    To quote: Britain has “below-average health spending per person compared to peer countries.  (. . . ) The UK lags behind other countries in its capital investment, and has substantially fewer key physical resources than many of its peers, including CT and MRI scanners and hospital beds. . .  has strikingly low levels of key clinical staff, including doctors and nurses, and is heavily reliant on foreign-trained staff.  Remuneration for some clinical staff groups also appears to be less competitive in the UK than in peer countries. . . ”

    Cancer outcomes in this country are among the worst.  Britain has just 3 doctors per 1,000 inhabitants, while one of the poorest European countries, Greece, manages to have more than double - 6. 3 per 1,000!  Yes it’s a report the government would like to bury.

    But never mind, says the Department of Health and Social Care, “we are among the most efficient”.  Sure.  Because their efficiency merely measures how little is spent per patient on treatment!

    So what about the “Workforce Plan” then?  This 15-year plan to double the workforce (a doubling needed right now!) is meant to be announced this week.  So why 15 years?  Do they hope that by the time 2038 arrives, the “plan” will be long forgotten, as we all face the latest crisis of their decrepit, fast-degenerating capitalism system?

    Indeed, there’s a reason why bad news comes so thick and fast these days.  As the Sex Pistols already sang in 1977, there is “no future” - that is, not unless the working class gets together and forces change on this society.  A good place to start would be for everyone to go on strike “for NHS workers” this coming July - including for nurses and paramedics, who felt obliged to call off their strikes, after being given a a real terms pay cut.  So, how about it?