tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6093114275469628673.post9198051299453387631..comments2023-06-02T17:22:43.445+01:00Comments on Luna17: A long road from 1997: New Labour and the working classluna17http://www.blogger.com/profile/03754650933188634442noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6093114275469628673.post-75741822296756135412010-04-09T05:11:21.607+01:002010-04-09T05:11:21.607+01:00I don't think that there can be a causative li...I don't think that there can be a causative link betweeen the ability to win reforms and the expansion or contraction of the capitalist economy, rather I think it depends on the strength of trade union organisation, which as you note, Cliff underplayed. Whereas in previous decades it was difficult for capital to escape the organisation of labour, this was reversed by the cross-boarder mobility of capital enabled by the big bang of financial deregulation, coupled with the doubling of the global workforce available to capital with the opening of China, India, and the Eastern Bloc - and in recent years, the ability to attract workers to the UK from the eight EU accession countries.<br /><br />Though there were those who would have wanted a complete break with the Labour movement, what New Labour represented was a bargain with the capitalist class. The Thatcherite script would not be torn up, in return, the party would be allowed to hold office without destabilisation. At that time, the party was gaining new funding from big business, weakening the influence of the unions.<br /><br />This is now reversing, with trade union funding key to the party's ability to exist, let alone function. And let's not forget that it is not only Labour voters and activists that assume remarks by leaders are hyperbole: even were Labour to produce a plan for deficit-reduction, the capitalist class would not believe it could be implemented. Which perhaps explains the intervention by so many "business leaders" during this election.<br /><br />To me, this means the outcome of the election is even more important than in '97. A Tory government would have no problem with further increasing restrictions on the trade union movement, with large-scale public sector job losses and privatisation programmes.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11443724356434212172noreply@blogger.com