NEW LABOUR: WEAK

"National governments appear increasingly impotent in the face of the giant corporations, who transcended national borders many years ago," writes Noreena Hertz in The Silent Takeover.

She claims that the welfare state is being undermined, arguing that New Labour have more or less reached the limit of what they can achieve, given the fact that no one would thank them if the monsternationals upped and left the country, as Ford seem to be doing in Dagenham.

No one can deny that Mr Brown is in favour of wealth redistribution; he has committed billions to education, childcare, the NHS and allieviating poverty. No one can deny that people both at the top and bottom of the social pyramid have been affected by his policies. I can't remember the exact figures, but I did hear from an independent source (on Newsnight, 2003) that the top 5% are 15% worse off while the bottom 5% are 15% better off - something within that range anyway.

The question is whether the Chancellor can do more, especially given the long-term environmental and pensions crises, let alone the money being wasted on the "war on terror".

If indeed, as I suspect, he is unable to act because of an electorate unwilling to vote for an income tax hike and corporations refusing to pay more corporation tax, how on earth will we be able to sustain anything like the current level of provision by the welfare state, especially when growth falters and the number of pensioners increases?

If the electorate is unwilling to vote for a sensible policy, on their head be it. That is how democracy works. But that predatory monsternationals should be able to lean on the government to prevent its acting in the cause of social justice is a disgrace.

Where is a more virile breed of politician?


The state of the world: read George Monbiot