There is no doubt that one should fight your battles to the hilt, but it is equally true that you should pick the right battles first. Two major battles to be had are whether NHS contracts should be aggressively pimped to the private sector, and whether the NHS should be up for sale to the highest international bidder. That is not to say that other battles are not important, but fighting these battles, I feel, will be able to tell us the future direction of travel of Labour. It’s well known that the political heart of Labour is possibly social democratic, but I feel that the ‘999 March for the NHS’ shows noteworthy twangs of democratic socialism, which has rather disparagingly been referred to as ‘left-wing populism’ previously elsewhere.
Getting Labour embroiled in a turf war over semantics I reckon is an infertile ground. The history of Labour and state ownership has long been a complicated one, as evidenced by previous Labour governments under Hugh Gaitskell and Tony Blair. When it was first established, the NHS was set up on the basis of social solidarity – everyone contributed to the cost of providing the NHS through taxes, and in return healthcare was provided by the state and available for those who needed it, when they needed it. This feeling of solidarity is indeed embed in the ‘999 Call for the NHS’.
The situation in 2014 is that rail fares are rising again, faster than average earnings. Whilst perhaps somewhat over egged, there is a genuine ‘cost of living crisis’ in England, with bills far outstripping real term wages. Employment for some is a very flimsy construct, being held together by a zero term contract. But it is true that, as under previous administrations, inequality is a problem in policy, and taxpayer subsidies are being diverted towards company profits and shareholders. Far from a smaller state, we have ended up with an unaccountable outsourced state. We have had the highest fares in Europe with profits extracted to pay shareholder dividends. In 2012/13 Northern Rail, Transpennine Express and Virgin alone paid almost £100m in dividends to shareholders after receiving over £1bn in public subsidy. Evidence shows that about £1bn per year is wasted due to privatisation, and if saved, this could fund an 18% cut in fares.
Why should the ‘People’s March for the NHS’ become so popular? Is it another example of “left-wing populism”? Left-wing populism is supposed to be a political ideology which combines left-wing politics and populist rhetoric and themes. Such a narrative normally consists of anti-elitist sentiments, opposition to the system and speaking for the “common people”, including themes of anti-capitalism, social justice, pacifism and anti-globalisation, whereas class society ideology or socialist theory is not as important as it is to traditional left-wing parties. The turbo-boosting of the privatisation of the NHS and the decimation of legal aid in England have therefore been good reasons for left-wing populism to gain momentum.
Robert Peston once famously asked, “Who runs Britain?” And looking at the recent elections to the House of Lords, one wonders how certain people get to such elevated heights of power. Meanwhile, Democratic socialists believe that both the economy and society should be run democratically—to meet public needs, not to make profits for a few. For a good such as water, where there is nothing to tell the difference between one brand of water and the next, it is hard to see how a privatised utility system is of benefit other than to corporate shareholders whether here or abroad. Democratic socialists do not want to create an all-powerful government bureaucracy, but likewise they do not want big corporate bureaucracies to control our society either. And some of the private providers in running public services, whether NHS, security, or probation, or otherwise, have been a disaster.
People often criticise Labour of having lost its roots. Indeed, it is hard to see how the most loyal Tony Blair critic should think of the Jarrow March as particularly Blairite? Jarrow is a small industrial town near to the southern mouth of the River Tyne, situated six miles east of the city of Newcastle. Despite the efforts of industrialist and Member of Parliament Sir John Jarvis, by September 1935, Jarrow had lost most of its heavy industry, and unemployment stood at 72.9%. The march was to find jobs to support Jarrow men and their families. It was also a bid for respect and recognition, not only for the people of Jarrow, but for others in a similar situation all over the country. The marchers had no resources other than their own determination, and some good boots supplied by the public. The irony about keeping wages stagnant in the NHS is that this is at a time when the country’s economy is supposedly improving, and when demand for the NHS is outstripping supply.
The People’s March for the NHS will arrive at its destination in London this Saturday, 6 September 2014, when campaigners will be joined by thousands of demonstrators for the final leg from Red Lion Square to Westminster. Started by a group of working mums from Darlington committed to stopping the privatisation of the NHS, the ‘999 Call for the NHS’ march left Jarrow on 16 August and has been winding down the country for the last three weeks following the route of the original Jarrow Crusade. The Chair of the London Socialist Health Association (@SocHealthLondon), Jos Bell (@jos21) has helped with some of the organisation over The final leg of the march, which will start at 2.30pm from Red Lion Square, Holborn, in London, with campaigners gathering from 1.45pm. There will be a rally in Trafalgar Square form 3.30pm with speakers including columnist and author Owen Jones. Further details can be found here.
But I feel that this march is much more than a publicity stunt or an item of ‘left populism’. It for me goes to the heart of a social democracy malaise gone wrong. It is indeed true that many northern European countries enjoy tremendous prosperity and relative economic equality as a result of policies pursued by social democratic parties. Social democratic parties supported strong labor movements that became central players in economic decision-making.
But globalisation of neoliberalism can be seen as a threat as well as an opportunity. With the globalisation of capitalism, the old social democratic model becomes ever harder to maintain. Stiff competition from low-wage labour markets in developing countries and the constant fear that industry will move to avoid taxes and strong labour regulations has diminished (but not eliminated) the ability of nations to launch necessary economic reform on their own. The idea of the NHS participating in this race to the bottom, where radiology opinions are outsourced in a disruptive manner to a foreign jurisdiction which we cannot easily regulate, strikes many people with fear.
Many have long felt that social democratic reform must now happen at the international level. Multinational corporations must be brought under democratic controls, and workers’ organising efforts must reach across borders. The European Commission is currently involved in negotiating a free trade arrangement of unprecedented scale between the US and European Union (EU). This is the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (or TTIP). The process is also undemocratic as the substance of on-going negotiations is largely kept from our MPs, MEPs, as well as the public. Once the treaty is signed by negotiators, the UK parliament, like other EU member states, will only be able to vote to accept or reject the treaty as a whole: they will not be able to amend it in any way.
Many believe that one of the biggest prizes of the agreement for transnationals will be the NHS. The Health and Social Care Act (2012) and the regulations for implementing it (Section 75) have changed the fundamental nature of the NHS. By fragmenting the NHS, opening it up to competition law and turning the NHS into a market in which private companies can compete for NHS funding for patient services, the Health and Social Care Act contains a toxic tool which can put profit before people, and lead to the piecemeal destruction of the NHS. Labour has pledged to repeal the Health and Social Care Act (2012), which of course they must do to avert the biggest sale of the century.
