Dave Gardner
According to the Guardian of the 15th October, the TUC informs us that UK households have paid an extra £13,961 on bills since 2021. The TUC acknowledges that this is not an act of God. According to Paul Nowak, General Secretary:
“From austerity to the pandemic to energy shocks and Trumpflation, working people have borne the brunt of crisis after crisis. When the crackpots in the White House or the Kremlin launch an illegal war, everyone pays the price in their bills.” (LA comment: no ‘crackpots’ in Tel Aviv?).
Nowak makes it look as it there is nothing we can do about the actions of various ‘crackpots’. This is a puerile comment that shows how the TUC and the broader trade union movement are evading their responsibilities to make clear to British people how the government’s actions are leading to a cost of living and growth crisis in the British economy. For it is clear that the ‘crackpots’ in Washington and Tel Aviv have the support of the British government, although London may pretend otherwise. With much reduced household purchasing power and industry’s incentive to invest much reduced, there is bound to be a negative effect on economic growth, about which so much ink is spilled.
The UK chose to sanction Russian energy and chose to support (while pretending not to do so) the US/Israeli war on Iran, leading to a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. The UK government have increased their aggression by assisting the Saudis in their war against Ansar Allah, leading to further problems with energy supply and increased inflation. These were political choices made by the government which has not cared to explain the costs to the British people. Neither it seems does the TUC.
Some months ago Labour Affairs gave a figure for the cumulative costs of the Ukraine war on the UK. Updating these and adding in the costs of the US/Israeli war on Iran we come up with a conservative figure of £443 billion since February 2022, which includes energy costs, lost growth and consequent reduction in household spending as well as direct support to Ukraine. These are staggering figures. Any ‘theory of economic growth’ that seriously addressed the issue of how to revive economic growth would examine how these anti-growth, anti-working class policies could be addressed through a change in foreign policy.
There is an obvious answer. Settle the conflict in Ukraine in a way that addresses Russia’s legitimate security interests, end the sanctions on Russia leading to a reduction in energy costs, stop military and logistic support for the wars in Ukraine and West Asia and indicate to Iran that the UK respects Iran’s sovereignty and will take steps to broker a permanent peace between the US, Israel and Iran and between Saudi Arabia and Ansar Allah (the de facto government of Yemen). All three of these wars harm British interests, put the British people in harm’s way and make them poorer. They are pursued for the sake of American and Israeli imperialist interests. They do nothing for working people in Britain. Apparently the TUC and union leaders don’t want to point this out to their members or the broader British public, although they must be well aware of the origins of the costs being imposed on their members and working people more generally. Paul Nowak does not even have to advocate peace, although that would be a good idea. All the TUC has to do is to inform the public of the choices that successive British governments have made and the price tag that comes with them. People can make up their own minds as to whether the price is worth paying. Mainstream media will not tell them. It is up to the leadership of the working class to do so. At the moment we have a failure of leadership at the TUC and in most of the trade union movement.
