The 1945 Labour government established the welfare state, Thatcher devoted her 1980s premiership to its demolition, a process not stopped by Blair and Brown, but continued by the 14 years of Tory austerity under Osborne and Sunak. Now Labour appears set on finalising the job by continuing with big cuts to public services and following the example of the crazy US President in sacking thousands of government employees on the basis of the big lie that what they do is not needed

I was born in 1937 and my sister was born in 1940. During our childhood, despite the country being at war, we enjoyed the benefits of state-provided welfare. It was not a land of plenty, but along with the rest of the nation’s children we were inoculated against diphtheria and provided with nutritional supplements, including orange juice, rose-hip syrup, cod liver oil, syrup of figs as well as milk every morning at school. Once at secondary school, we received a clothing grant and free travel.

Our father was in the building trade and, once the worst of the war damage was repaired, he was laid off from time to time and on the dole.

Starting in 1956, my university tuition fees were paid in full and I received a maintenance grant which covered all my costs. I received free dental care on the NHS up to the age 18.

In my retirement I have had two hip replacements, two cataract operations and life-saving heart surgery.

 

In post-war Britain there was still rationing, but life was good and getting better, despite the country being deeply in debt. Rachel Reeve’s austerity is necessitated, she claims,  by the nation’s debt. Nonsense. In 1945, Britain’s debts amounted to three times more than the real-terms sterling value of the debts she is currently trying to clear by means of massive cuts in public services. Our war loans were not cleared until 2006: £45 million to the USA and £12 million to Canada. The war bonds from the 1914-18 war were not cleared until 2015.

Starmer’s leadership has said that Labour needs to be even tougher on welfare than the Tories. Since Reeves has been wielding her axe, the Tories have expressed their amazement and admiration. They have called her the new George Osborne. Among the public, urban myths about scroungers making benefits a life-style choice have gained currency thanks to sensationalising coverage in the tabloids.

The overwhelmingly right-wing press was never in favour of the welfare state and is happy to see Labour continuing its demolition.

What remains of the legacy of the 1945 Labour government is well on the way to being razed to the ground by the Blairite trio of Starmer, Reeves and Streeting. The remaining remnants of social democratic policy are being purged, along with the surviving socialists.

That trio rarely misses a photo-opportunity to appear in high-vis jackets and hard hats, or in military gear.  When delivering a speech, the podium is flanked by the national flag.

All this demonstrative patriotism dates from when Jeremy Corbyn memorably avowed on radio that he would not as prime Minister press the nuclear button, blasting any enemy and the rest of the world to smithereens, sending the planet into the mass extinction of a nuclear winter. He was damned as a pacifist and Starmer now revealed his authoritarianism by outlawing any criticism of NATO and the government’s belligerent foreign policies.

Jeremy Corbyn was damned by the tabloid comics, the Sun,Daily Excess and Doolally Mail for being a pacifist. When cavorting with the military and wrapping themselves in the Union Jack, the Labour leadership should remember the wise words of Samuel Johnson: “patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.”

Rachel Reeves has re-directed £6.4 billion from support for the poor and disabled to procurement of bombs, laser-guided missiles and four new warships for the armed forces. Meanwhile 3.2 million families will lose an average of £1,720 per year in benefits, including 50,000 children newly pushed into poverty.

The tabloids continue the Thatcherite slur about benefit scroungers. Thge facts tell a different story. In 2020-21, 65 per cent of the children living in poverty were in households  receiving universal credit and housing benefit although at least one adult was in work. The problem is low pay and exorbitant rents.

Reeves has made no attempt to redistribute the nation’s wealth.

Britain has 170 resident billionaires. The richest 10 per cent of the population own 43 per cent of the nation’s wealth, while the poorest 50 per cent own just 9 per cent. Reeves has studiedly protected the rich and their riches.  By imposing a fair wealth tax, the cuts to public services would be unnecessary.

The billions being spent armaments should be diverted to investment in green industries, housing, the NHS, education and infrastructure projects. Such a programme would boost the economy, lift us out of this prolonged miserable recession and create worthwhile jobs.

That is what people wanted when they voted labour, thinking we were in for real change. Instead we have been deceived by Starmer’s lies. His change has turned out to be a change for the worse.