Weekly Brief: 05 April 2001 : ePolitix.com

Weekly Brief: 05 April 2001

Putting the country first

‘This is a decision that has to be taken in the interests of the whole country, the parts that don't support the government as well as the parts that do. It is time to unify and not divide, to work together to help the communities most affected. That is what we will do.'
Prime Minister Tony Blair

Delaying council elections

As the Prime Minister made clear in his statement on Monday, in the face of the foot and mouth outbreak, it would not be appropriate to hold council elections in May. But equally, we should not indefinitely suspend the democratic process – that is simply not in the national interest.

Any period of uncertainty is bad for tourism, sending out the wrong message, because Britain is indeed open for business. Uncertainty would also be bad for broader industry and the public services. So June 7th strikes the right balance between a delay that lets us put the right strategies in place to tackle the disease, and the avoidance of real and lasting damage to our democratic and economic stability.

Tory claims that if we can't hold elections now then we still won't be able to hold them in June are wrong. The question was not whether local elections could go ahead but whether they should. There is no practical impediment to polling – even in areas badly affected by the outbreak.

But there is a clear need for national, and in some areas, local politicians to focus on the fight against foot and mouth as we put in place the mechanisms to deal with any eventuality over the next few weeks.

Tackling foot and mouth

Our first priority remains the elimination of the disease. The strategy for achieving this is the rapid identification and culling of infected animals and then animals on contiguous farms. Our target is a gap between identification of infection and culling of no more than 24 hours, with animals on contiguous farms to be culled within 48 hours. Vaccination remains an option, but has serious longer-term consequences for our export markets. We will take a decision on whether and how to vaccinate in the near future as the progress of the disease and the success of our existing measures becomes clearer.

We understand and share the public's concerns at the backlogs that have developed, and we are determined to overcome them. There is no question of will or cost, but of practicality and logistics in this unprecedented task. There is no shortage of manpower, but there is a shortage of vets. We are making full use of the army resources available: 1,423 soldiers are now deployed in assisting with operations and we are confident that they are being put to the best possible use. Indications over the past couple of days are that our tough action on report to slaughter is now beginning to bite. But while we can be cautiously optimistic, it must be clear there will be no let up until this disease is eradicated in full.

Putting country before party

The Tories' calls for a longer delay show they are really motivated by fear of the verdict of the electorate. They aren't acting in the national interest – a longer delay would damage our economy and isolate Britain in the eyes of the world.

A Labour government puts country before party. The Tories, meanwhile, have put their own opportunism at the top of the agenda.

Report on racism

This week's report from the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance, is inaccurate and gives a misleading impression of our policy on asylum.

Claims that ‘many' asylum seekers are held in prison are untrue. About one per cent of asylum seekers are detained, and mostly in dedicated detention centres, not prisons. There is a need to detain some applicants, particularly refusal cases prior to removal, but to imply that detention is routine is totally misleading.

It claims that overall support provided by the National Asylum Support Service is equivalent to 70 per cent of income support levels. In fact the report fails to acknowledge that the support package includes utilities and other services provided in kind as well as vouchers.

Asylum seekers are not ‘forced to queue for food parcels' as the report claims. Vouchers can be used to purchase any items sold at the thousands of outlets which accept them.

It cites discriminatory behaviour by immigration officials. Yet of the 89 million arrivals to the UK last year, only 44 official complaints of racial discrimination were made against the Immigration Service, and only one was upheld.

Labour is reforming the immigration and asylum system from the complete shambles left to us by the Tories to ensure it is better able to provide help to those fleeing persecution, while deterring claims that are unfounded. While we are taking action, it is the Tories who cynically play politics with the issue.

UK aid budget highest ever

Figures out this week show that with Labour, Britain's assistance to developing countries has risen to its highest level ever.

Last year we spent £2,940 million on aid - equivalent to 0.31 per cent of total GNP and a rise of 40 per cent compared to 1999. This underlines Labour's commitment to helping halve the proportion of people in developing countries living in absolute poverty by 2015. Already we've allocated £500 million for education and £1 billion for healthcare.

The Tories have an appalling record on international development.

They slashed the aid budget year after year. As a proportion of GNP, aid under the Tories fell from 0.52 per cent in 1979 to 0.26 per cent in 1997.

Of the aid they did provide, too much was used to sweeten commercial contracts or serve short-term political interests, to the detriment of long-term development.

Now the Tories' £16 billion cuts guarantee would mean major cuts in development aid for some of the poorest people in the world.

Modern matrons to transform wards

For years the NHS was starved of funds, meaning fundamentals like cleaner wards slipped too far down the agenda. Labour is investing to make sure that every patient can expect decent standards – not just of care, but of basic rights like clean wards and good food as well.

Part of this means putting power back in the hands of the frontline staff who know what needs attention, and whom patients can turn to when they need help.

So this week, Labour set out how 2,000 matrons will be on wards across the NHS by 2004 (500 in post by next April). They will have influence over cleaning and catering budgets to ensure that wards are clean and that patients get decent meals, and they will have a responsibility to make sure that the elderly are treated with respect at all times.

The Tories can't match this funding. They have promised to drain £500 million from NHS funds to subsidise private health insurance and their £16 billion cuts guarantee will go to the heart of the health budget. The choice is clear – cleaner wards and better care with Labour or falling standards under the Tories.

New tax year brings good news from Labour

This week sees the introduction of a raft of measures from Labour to help families, pensioners, people with disabilities and savers. It is vital that we use this to get across how Labour is building on our platform of economic stability to create a Britain of opportunity and prosperity for all.

Putting families first

Children's Tax Credit introduced, worth up to £10 a week for 5 million families.

Child benefit raised to £15.50 for the eldest child and £10.35 for other children.

·10p tax rate extended – giving 25 million people a tax cut.

Support for pensioners

Basic state pension up by £5 a week to £72.50 for single pensioners and by £8 to £115.90 for couples – the biggest-ever real terms rise.

Minimum Income Guarantee (MIG) raised in line with earnings to £92.15 a week for singles and £140.55 for couples.

Encouraging savers

ISA subscription limit of £7,000 extended for a further five years.

Cash mini ISAs available to 16 and 17-year-olds.

More help for people with disabilities

Enhanced disability premium on income support worth an extra £11.05 for singles and £16 a week for couples.

Disabled child tax credit increased by £7.40 a week above indexation.

Carer's premium on income support up by £10.25 to £24.40 a week.

While Labour works to ensure everyone shares in Britain's rising prosperity, the Tories' recipe of tax cuts they can't fund and spending cuts they can't name would take us back to boom and bust.

Cash injection for railways

John Prescott announced a £7.5 billion package of rail measures this week on the first working day of our 10-year Transport Plan. This down-payment is just part of the £60 billion provision for rail over the next decade.

Railtrack will receive a £1.5 billion advance payment, but with strict conditions attached - meaning increased accountability and a change in the company's role.

The money must be spent strictly on improving the railways, not disappear into shareholders' pockets.

Railtrack will reorganise its structure to concentrate on its core job of maintaining the existing network, improving safety and service for passengers.

Major upgrade projects will now be carried forward by public-private partnerships, starting with the East Coast Main Line.

Railtrack will set out how it will deliver coherent management of contracted-out work and will examine the scope for more in-house maintenance.

Railtrack will appoint, in consultation with government, a non-executive director to its main board with a remit to provide a powerful public and consumer interest voice.

Labour is working hard to repair the mistakes of the Tories' botched rail privatisation. There have been recent calls for re-nationalisation, but this is not the answer. It would cost £5 billion at current stock market valuation which, instead of being invested in our railways, would go straight to private investors in compensation payments. The government already has a small equity stake in Railtrack, but regulation is a much more direct way of ensuring Railtrack is publicly accountable.

Our approach is in stark contrast to the Tories, who can only promise more misery for passengers. They want a 'lighter touch' for rail regulation and would drain the transport budget to fund their £16 billion cuts guarantee.

Hague – a weak leader in an extreme party

Tories used to boast of being a broad church, but events over the past two weeks show that Hague has become a prisoner of the far right within in his own party and many former party faithful are finding themselves ill at ease in a party characterised by intolerance.

Townend and Gill show true face of today's Tories

A week after John Townend's and Christopher Gill's comments on immigration they still have the Tory whip. More disturbingly, it now appears that, contrary to William Hague's claims, John Townend hasn't even been reprimanded. This is not only clear evidence of the extreme territory the Tories are now occupying, but of William Hague's weak leadership.

At the time William Hague claimed John Townend had been ‘firmly rebuked' for his outrageous comments. But Mr Townend has now contradicted William Hague and revealed the truth, telling Sky News on Wednesday that he has received no such ‘rebuke' from anyone at Conservative Central Office.

The excuse for not removing the whip has been that Mr Townend is not standing at the next election. But the fact that his comments were backed by Greg Knight, the prospective parliamentary candidate in his Yorkshire East constituency, show that these feelings are not a last vestige of the Enoch Powell era but are being carried on by tomorrow's Tories as well.

Tory aide defects from a party with ‘nothing to say' on the serious issues

At a time when Tory membership is plunging new depths, the defection of former Hague and Major aide Ceri Evans was another warning to the Tories of disaffection with Hague's weak leadership and extreme policies.

Citing Hague's ‘Foreign land' speech as the last straw, he issued a statement saying ‘Quite simply, I believe that the issues facing Britain are best dealt with by strong leadership and a clear sense of purpose. Tony Blair has both these qualities. The Conservative Party has failed to grasp the opportunity to change and has failed to offer leadership on key issues such as education, health and enterprise'.

He also attacked the Tories' inability to come up with any credible policies where it counts. ‘What is the Conservative Party policy on education? Leave gap while somebody fills in silence. What is the Conservative Party policy on health? Leave gap while someone fills in silence. Crucially, and I think most disappointingly, what is the policy on tax, reform of tax and spending? It's the absence of those and therefore the deafening nature of a ‘Foreign Land' that causes me despair.' (Metropol, BBC2, 1/4/00)

Party faithful jump ship

What makes this all the more of a blow is that this is the third high-profile departure from the Tories within 15 months.

In December 1999, MP Shaun Woodward decided his politics were becoming completely marginalised in an increasingly intolerant party. Stating that Tory attitudes were based ‘more on prejudice than reason' (Evening Mail, 30/12/99) he left to join Labour.

Following fast in his footsteps was Tory mayor hopeful Ivan Massow, who quit to join Labour last August saying ‘The sad truth is that the Tories have become less compassionate, more intolerant and frankly just plain nasty.' (BBC News Online, 2/8/00)

Ever since William Hague became leader of the Tory party it has moved further and further to the right. It is absurd to end up with a situation where tolerant one-nation Tories are forced to desert while extremists are welcomed and even promoted. The front bench is now a who's who of euroscepticism, intolerance and downright prejudice.