Rampant neoliberalism

Letter to the Suffolk Free Press

Dear Editor

Steve Britt takes a well-aimed swipe at the Lib Dems for their arrogant and cynical policy of revoking Article 50.  (SFP, 3 Oct 2019).  But, as an extreme Brexiter, his no-deal approach is far more dangerous. 

Right wing austerity measures over the last ten years have devastated many of our communities and severely damaged the lives of at least 10% of the population who felt most ‘left behind’ by the cuts on welfare provision and public services. Putting aside the question of whether their response was rational or not, these are the people who voted Leave in protest at the cuts at the time of the 2016 Referendum and probably tipped the balance against staying in the EU.

Austerity was the result of the approach favoured by Steve Britt.  It had its origins in right wing thinking which believes that public action is self-defeating, that only business in free markets can deliver the best results and that we are all individuals whose sole responsibility is to ourselves. It tends to know the price of everything and the value of nothing.

Steve Britt places himself in the tradition of ‘classical liberalism’ but this is a mere diversionary tactic. Nowadays, we are more used to the description ‘neoliberalism’ which is an insidious doctrine adopted by the Thatcher government which over the decades has made the rich richer and the poor poorer.

The freedom espoused by neoliberal Steve Britt is illusory for most working people.  Freedom from trade unions and collective bargaining means the freedom to suppress wages.  Freedom from regulation means the freedom to poison rivers, to endanger workers, to charge iniquitous rates of interest and to design more and more exotic financial methods to avoid paying tax.  But freedom from tax means freedom from the fair distribution of wealth that lifts people out of poverty.

The neoliberal project has failed and it is time to provide a long overdue corrective which can only be supplied by the Labour Party.  After the forthcoming General Election, there will either be a government led by an anti-austerity Labour Party committed to a referendum with remain on the ballot paper, or a hard-right Tory party committed to the hardest of Brexits.  Labour will let the people decide, not the politicians.

Under a Labour government, the vote would be a choice between remain and a Brexit deal that doesn’t blow up the economy and destroy hard-won rights – with ‘no deal’ permanently taken off the table.  We would also have a prime minister who isn’t deliberately polarising the country but someone who is making every effort to heal divisions and enable the country to move forward.

Yours sincerely