Labour preps privatisation war on public services

Keir Starmer’s plan is no change at all (Picture: No10 Flickr)

Labour has declared war on public sector workers. Chancellor Rachel Reeves made clear she plans another round of austerity on Tuesday.

She said “every pound” of government spending will be scrutinised in a major budget review. This will include “reforming our public service”—in other words, making them run more like private businesses.

On Monday business minister Pat McFadden set out his “plans for change” in government services by bringing in high tech industry hit squads.

This, he claimed, would bring about “reform of the state”, which he said was “essential”.

But behind the rhetoric of  “start-up firms” and “learning from Spotify, WhatsApp and Airbnb” lies a cold reality. Labour wants to use the threat of privatisation to force more productivity out of already over-worked staff.

Prime minister Keir Starmer claimed productivity in the public sector has dropped by 2.6 percent compared to a year ago, and is ­­­­­­­­­­­­­8.5 percent lower than just before the Covid pandemic.

He said this “wouldn’t be accepted in any other sector or walk of life” and that he will not subsidise lower productivity “with ­ever-rising taxes on the British people”.

Starmer wants the private sector to drive through market-based “reforms” in what remains of the public sector.

Pauline, a mental health nurse in the west of Scotland, is furious with Labour’s attacks. “During the height of the pandemic, politicians hailed us as ‘heroes’,” she told Socialist Worker.

“Four years later, and we are still dealing with the results of the crisis, mostly because of the lack of staff. That means millions of people are waiting in despair for treatment.

“But Starmer seems to think that this somehow is the fault of people working in the health service, that we are not working hard enough.” Pauline said Starmer’s obsession with productivity will likely lead to a revived “target ­culture” in the NHS.

“Where I work, we have a target of treating patients within 18 weeks,” she said. “Management essentially fiddle the figures to meet it. But I refuse to comply with that.

“They put pressure on us nurses to discharge patients, even before they are ready, to free up space for others. I’m sure that makes for good productivity figures. But the people here need us to help get them through some of the most desperate times in their lives.

“I won’t bow to demands to ‘get them out the door’. After all, these are patients that management has never even met.”

Pauline says she feels let down by Labour. “You can’t make the NHS more efficient by diktat. The first thing we have to do is solve the staffing crisis,” she said.

“Every time Starmer and his gang kick health workers, they damage morale and make that harder.”

The private sector has for years gorged itself on public sector contracts, creaming off the most profitable bits and grabbing cash for shareholders.

The outcome has been worse ­services—and millions of people working harder under worse conditions. Starmer’s latest betrayal risks deepening the disillusionment with mainstream parties, and opening the door to the far right.

“Reform UK are waiting in the wings,” says Pauline. “And ­attacking workers and the services  they provide is a gift to them. Reform UK can “pick up votes from disillusioned public sector workers” and “insist that ‘reform’ goes even further towards total privatisation”.

Labour says it wants the state to “learn” from the bosses of tech start-ups. But those spivs have nothing of value to teach.