Of all the slogans, catchphrases, soundbites and propaganda lines emanating from this Conservative-led coalition government, nothing grates more than George Osborne’s High School Musical-inspired “We’re all in this together”. We’re not. The Treasury’s own table makes that clear. So, too, does the Institute for Fiscal Studies.
As we approach the end of the year, a time of soothsaying and prophesying, let me make one simple prediction: at the end of this parliament, and as a direct result of this government’s policies, the gap between rich and poor will have widened; the rich will be richer and the poor will be poorer. The housing benefit “reforms” are just the tip of the iceberg.
And a new report revealing how FTSE-100 executives received a 55 per cent jump in pay over the past year makes me wonder how they are in this with the rest of us. “Austerity, what austerity?” is the headline over at politics.co.uk. Remember: these are the kinds of people who write letters to the Telegraph urging cuts to public services and fear-mongering about public-sector pensions. Shocking, eh?
But as Jim Pickard notes over at the FT Westminster Blog:
This is why I was frantically seeking political reaction yesterday to the report by Incomes Data Services, which is on our front page today. Criticism came obligingly from Vince Cable, union leaders and from Labour figures including John Denham (Kelvin Hopkins said it was a “moral outrage”). Although it’s not quite clear that any of them have a magic bullet to solve the issue.
Ed Miliband’s reaction? No comment whatsoever.
It’s not as if this isn’t a subject close to his heart, supposedly. During the summer he said salary differentials were far too wide – and called for Will Hutton’s official review to be extended to the private sector.
So, Ed, where are you? Still running from the “Red” tag? Let’s be clear. There is nothing “red” about objecting to reckless, irresponsible and unfair pay rises and telephone-number salaries. In fact, the public would be on your side if you did – polls show voters support a high pay commission and higher taxes on bonuses and object to the growing gap between rich and poor in modern Britain.
Saint Vince of Cable, the Business Secretary, became spectacularly popular in opposition not just because he could dance, but because he relentlessly attacked the excesses and greed of our financial elites. In government too, the sage of Twickenham has been quick to condemn the FTSE fat cats, describing the IDS report as “further evidence that it is time for executive pay to come back down to earth”.
I’m amazed – and annoyed! – that Barack Obama over in the United States failed, in the words of Drew Westen, to stake out a “left populist” position on bonuses, pay and corporate excesses in the wake of the financial crisis. And now, the Republicans, fuelled by the popularity of the anti-establishment, right-populism of the Tea Party movement, are expected to retake the House of Representatives from the Democrats in next week’s midterm elections.
So I do hope Ed Mili, who ran as an outsider, and to the left of the neoliberal “centre ground” where New Labour had camped out, will learn the lessons of Obama’s counterproductive caution and conservatism about finance, bonuses and bailout-related issues. And, as Pickard concludes:
You can understand his determination to shed the Red Ed tag and try to position Labour as close to the centre ground as possible. But those who heard him during scores of summer hustings may now be confused about what he does stand for.
UPDATE:
Given some of the debate and disagreement on Twitter over this blog post, let me clarify a few points:
1) I am still a strong supporter Ed Miliband, who is by far the best, most progressive and inspiring of the three main party leaders. But – shock, horror! – I remain to the left of of “Not So Red” Ed.
2) I do think the left should hold centre-left leaders like Obama, Brown, Miliband, whoever, to account and not give them a pass. See the example of the right/centre right.
3) It is indeed rather boring to see lefties always cry “betrayal” when their leaders disappoint them, but, on the other hand, legitimate criticism of those leaders shouldn’t instantly be dismissed, or misdescribed and/or ridiculed as screams of “betrayal”. Geddit?
4) I am starting slightly to worry that Ed Mili may have made a rather cautious start to his leadership on the subject of cuts and high pay/bonuses/etc. I suspect that the coalition’s fiscal policies will backfire on it and Labour will not be able to exploit the fallout if its own policies/approach/rhetoric are seen as not dissimilar by the public at large. (See Tories and Iraq; see Darling’s cuts v Osborne’s cuts during election campaign.)
5) Unlike Sunny Hundal and others, I don’t think it is unreasonable to expect Ed Mili to come out loudly and passionately on FTSE pay rises today, given the centrality and importance of the High Pay Commission proposal to his victorious Labour leadership campaign only a few weeks ago.
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