>New Worker Online Digest > >Week commencing 21st January, 2000. > >1) Editorial - Dying to help the rich. > >2) Lead story - The NHS money trick. > >3) Feature article - Sharp rise in air pollution. > >4) International story - Russia's Chechnia focus of growing Western >interference. > >5) British news item - Connex dispute set to escalate. > > >1) Editorial > >Dying to help the rich. > >HEALTH service under-funding reached scandalous proportions this winter. >Scheduled operations have been postponed, patients have been subjected to >long journeys in order to find a bed and some have even been sent to >hospitals in France! Furthermore, the severe shortage of intensive care >beds means many people would certainly have died unnecessarily if a major >accident, like the Paddington rail disaster, had happened during the winter >flu outbreak. > > We fully agree of course with Health Secretary Alan Milburn's sharp >dismissal of William Hague's proposal to give tax breaks for private health >insurance. "A private alternative to the NHS is not the right remedy", >Milburn told the Tory leader -- and so say all of us. Hague's idea is after >all nothing more than another tax Perk for the rich and a way of helping to >boost the profits of the private insurance companies. > > But the government's response has itself been an inadequate shambles. >First Blair announced pay increases for health service workers but did not >say exactly how they would be funded. This raised fears that money would be >diverted from other parts of the health service budget or that other >departments, like education, could lose out. > > Then Blair said he aimed to increase health spending to European levels >within six years -- estimated to cost around �11 billion a year. This has >not gone down well with other members of the Cabinet, especially Chancellor >Gordon Brown, who considers it far too ambitious. As a result Blair now >seems to be backpeddling as fast as he can. > > Of course, Gordon Brown and the rest did not raise the slightest objection >when hundreds of millions of pounds were being poured out to bomb the >people of Yugoslavia last year. Nor is it ever suggested that funding for >the NHS could be boosted by diverting money from the millions it costs to >keep nuclear-armed Trident weapons swanning around the world's oceans. >Clearly the cause of killing for imperialism also ends up with another form >of killing -- the deaths of people whose needs the NHS is unable to meet. > > This gross mis-spending of public money is one aspect of the current >problems of social funding. The other is the policy of keeping income tax >down to the low level set by the previous Tory governments of Major and >Thatcher. Such a policy can only lead to the continued under-funding of >social services, including the NHS, so, when a crisis forces the government >to boost spending in one service it then feels compelled to just take the >money from another public service. > > It is a programme of depriving the many in order to keep the few enjoying >the luxunous tax bonanza they have had these past 21 years. > > To a large extent successive governments have got away with this by making >sure any proposed tax rises are relatively more painful to better paid >workers and the middle strata than they are to the very rich. This is why >the campaigning demand on taxation reform has to be for a policy of >progressive taxation -- a system that lifts the tax burden from the working >class and makes the wealthy, who can easily afford it, pay more. In >particular to raise the top level of tax significantly. > > It is also necessary to counter another argument doing the rounds these >days which claims that little can be done to increase public revenue >because the terms of the Maastricht Treaty prevent it. > > Certainly the Maastricht Treaty has imposed EU-wide limits on public >spending and there is little doubt that a common taxation policy is part of >the EU plan for the European state. But the opposition to higher income tax >for the rich comes from the capitalist class itself and it is an opposition >based solely on greed. > > It is this class, including the ruling class of Britain, which has >designed the EU and which calls the shots within it -- to then use Europe >as an excuse for doing nothing is simply a fraud. > > It is a fraud aimed at making the working class feel powerless when in >reality it has the potential power to force change and sweep the >capitalists, their system and the capitalist super state of Europe away for >good. > > ************************** > >2) Lead story > >The NHS money trick. > >by Daphne Liddle > >THE LABOUR government last weekend was reeling under attacks for its >failure to cope with this year's predicted flu outbreak -- a failure which >has cost a number of lives through shortages of emergency hospital beds. > > It responded by promising nurses an above-inflation level pay rise -- and >about time too -- but failed to make extra funding available to finance it. > > Then it said it would gradually increase health spending by five per cent >a year to bring the NationalHealth Service up to a level comparable to >other European countries. > > But by Wednesday the Government was already backtracking on this >commitment by saying it would only happen if the economy is in good shape. > > This leaves everyone confused and the reality is that nothing extra has >been guaranteed. > > The most damaging attack on Labour's health record came from Lord Winston, >famous as a leading fertility consultant and now a Labour peer. > > In an article published in the New Statesman he spoke of his party's >failure to implement its health service promises. > > And he described the treatment of his 87-year-old mother, admitted to >hospital a few weeks ago: "She waited 13 hours in casualty before getting a >bed in a mixed-sex ward -- a place we said we would abolish. > > "None of her drugs were given on time, she missed meals and she was found >lying on the floor when the morning staff came on. > > "She caught an infection and now has a leg ulcer." > > This kind of experience is not unusual. But Lord Winston is in a better >position than most relatives to make his complaints felt where it matters. > > He said: "It is normal. The terrifying thing is we accept it." > > He spoke of his disappointment at Labour's failure to improve on the >devastation left by the private-enterprise obsessed Tories. > > He said: "The truth is that our services are much the worst in Europe ... > > "...We still have an internal market, but instead of commissioning by >local health authorities, we have primary caregroups. I think we have been >quite deceitful about it." > > This coincided with the news that one cancer patient who has had a vital >operation cancelled four times because of a shortage of intensive care >beds, now finds that her tumour is inoperable. > > All around the country similar tales have emerged in the last couple of >weeks. > > The Labour spin doctors got to work and persuaded Lord Winston to retract >his criticisms but this fooled noone. The damage to Labour's credibility >was done. > > Then, at the beginning of the week, Labour hoped to quell the growing >public anger by promising nurses a pay rise of 6.8 per cent -- effectively >4.3 per cent above inflation. > > This was designed to staunch the flow of nurses leaving the profession and >encourage new recruits. > > But then came the sting. NHS trusts will have to fund the pay rise out of >their existing budgets, meaning cuts elsewhere. > > Later, Tony Blair made his promise to bring the NHS up to European >standards within six years by increases in health spending of five per cent >a year. > > Only this was followed the next day with a condition that the increase >will be tied to the performance of the economy as a whole. > > Among the problems facing the NHS is the legacy of the previous Tory >governments -- a legacy the government has failed to tackle. The NHS is >still broken up into trusts that are paying through the nose for the very >land the hospitals are built on. They were created with a vast burden of >debt round their necks and interest payments drain vital funds. > > Then they are paying the salaries of a vast army of managers and >administrators needed to operate the internal market. > > Only then can cash be spared for patients, doctors, nurses and other >healthcare staff. > > And the private finance initiative will see hospital buildings being >transferred to the private sector with fewer and fewer beds being provided >and the NHS being burdened with heavy rent costs payable to the new owners >-- and who knows what future when the contracts run. > > Things will not improve unless the Government reverses the sabotage done >to the NHS structure by the Tories as well as vastly increasing health >spending. > > ********************* > > >3) Feature article > >Sharp rise in air pollution. > >by Caroline Colebrook > >THE LEVEL of air pollution in Britain rose dramatically last year according >to a report released last week by Friends of the Earth. The figures show >that rural areas were just as badly affected as urban areas. > > Modern records only began in 1993 -- a year of particularly high pollution >levels. Since then they had been dropping gradually. > > Six months ago Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott reported that 1998 had >seen the biggest improvement in air quality and claimed it was due to >Government policy. > > But experts say the main cause of that improvement was the weather. There >were fewer days of high pressure with little or no wind and there were >fewer easterly winds that carry pollution from Europe to Britain. > > But the weather in 1999 was very different and pollution rose alarmingly. >The number of days on which air pollution was above official health >standards rose by 20 percent in urban areas and by 53 per cent in rural areas. > > Last year pollution levels exceeded health and safety standards on average >one day in eight at eight rural monitoring sites and on one day in 13 at >urban sites. > > Also published last week was a Government report prepared by Stephen >Glaister for the Department of Health which claims that London is a lot >less polluted than many other major cities such as new York, Los Angeles >and Tokyo. > > The Government's report claims that the level of toxic vehicle emissions >is falling as a resultof the introduction of catalytic exhaust gas >converters in 1992 and improved engine technology and fuels. > > It also claims that the health dangers posed by increasing road traffic >are exaggerated and that the risks from air pollution are 1,000 lower than >those associated with smoking. > > It says that of eight named and monitored air pollutants, five have little >impact on health. > > And it lets the Government off the hook on the need to impose specific air >quality standards. > > Professor Glaister is described as an independent adviser on pollution >working for Imperial College, London. > > One pollutant that really damages health is ozone at ground level. It is a >form of oxygen which, when inhaled, is taken up in the lungs by the blood >like normal oxygen. > > It is carried around to all the cells of the body like normal oxygen but >is not given up there to be used to fuel the activitv of the cell. It just >remains in the blood and effectively clogs it up and reduces the efficiency >of the blood in carrying oxygen around the body. > > Its effects are cumulative and early symptoms of ozone poisoning are >headaches and nose bleeds. > > And according to the FoE report ozone levels are among those that have >been exceeding safety levels so often last year. > > Another, previous Government report revealed that around 24.000 people a >year die earlier than they would have because of air pollution. > > The FoE report found that the worst polluted city was London with 63 days >with pollution levels above Government standards. > > Second was Port Talbot in Wales with 60 days and third was Scunthorpe with >40 days. > > Rob Jones of Port Talbot FoE called on the Government, the local authority >and industry to act together to improve the health of local residents. > > He said: "Urgent action must be taken to clean up industry and traffic >emissions. As a first step we would like to see the local council declare >Margam and Taibach special air quality management areas." > > ************************* > >4) International story > >Russia's Chechnia focus of growing Western interference. > >by Steve Lawton > >RUSSIAN forces are consolidating their military control of Chechenia and >moving into the capital Grozny -- or what is left of it following renewed >heavy bombardment, as we go to press. In areas cleared of separatist rebel >activity, efforts to create a civil administration and a return to >normality are tentatively underway. > > Moscow's envoy to Chechenia, deputy Premier Nikolai Koshman, said last >Sunday that Grozny would be cleared of separatist activity by the end of >February and he was confident that part of the staff of his office would >soon be moved into the capital. Meanwhile,he said they were setting up in >the second largest city of Gudermes. > > President Vladimir Putin warned the West to respect Moscow's north >Caucasus security interests and recognise "real facts" from "propaganda" in >the war to crush foreign-backed Islamic rebels in Chechenia. Speaking at a >meeting of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, he said >that while this "situation is not simple, it is under control." > > The course of Russia's growing military and political role in Chechenia >since last September, unlike the costly 1994-6 war, is facing a much bigger >and menacing international dimension of interference. > > Russian leaders resolve, consequently, may well be far deeper than the >tactical considerations of the Presidential elections on 26 March. > > For a long time accusations of Western meddling have been levelled by >Russian leaders, particularly at the US and European Union. This first came >to prominence in the early '90s when big energy companies began sniffing >out potential profits in the Caspian. > > There has been heightened unrest in the region ever since as energy >predators moved in and as Nato-EU expansion pressed east. But with the >provocative oil & gas pipeline deal between Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey, >sealed in President Clinton's presence recently, the first definitive move >into doorstep Russian regional interests was set. > > Shevardnadze -- hosting Turkey's President Demirel in Tbilisi, Georgia >last Saturday -said that the economic projects in the region "are of >European and international importance". That means, he said, those forces >"won't remain indifferent to problems in the Caucasus." > > The presidents of Russia, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia agreed in 1996 >to stabilise the Caucasus at a summit in Kislovodsk. But Demirel, faithful >and pivotal Nato ally in the region with EU membership on his mind, >proposed a security pact in the region which Shevardnadze described as >"historically important." > > On Monday he elaborated, explaining that regional security could be >maintained not only by the 1996 parties, but by "international >organisations" and the US. This sits uneasily with Shevardnadze's public >announcements that Chechenia is Russia's legitimate security concern. > > And despite repeated denials by Shevardnadze -- formerly Gorbachov's >foreign minister and survivor of assassination attempts -- Moscow continues >to insist that his country is a support base for Chechen rebels. > > Chechen separatists' so-called foreign minister, Iliyas Akhmadov, was last >week welcomed in the US by State Department official James Rubin. The move >angered Russian leaders. Russia's foreign minister Igor Ivanov said: "Acts >of this kind," Itar-Tass reported, "in fact mean support of terrorists and >separatists, and not only in Russia." > > And Afghanistan's Islamic Taliban opposition has openly declared its >support for the Chechen rebels by recognising Chechenia as an independent >state. The Russian foreign ministry on Monday denounced the action as an >attempt to create a "gangster international". The ministry said this "once >again testifies to a link between Chechenia's terrorists and the forces of >belligerent religious extremism." > > China again made clear its support for Russia's stand on Chechenia on >Tuesday. Defence minister Chi Haotian, in Russia on a three day visit told >Russia's deputy Prime Minister Ilya Klebanov that Chechenia is a part of >the Russian Federation and regards the matter as its internal affair. Both >agreed military relations between China and Russia are "developing >successfully." > > And in response to the Taliban's recognition of Chechenia as an >independent state, an external affairs ministry official of India said that >it supported the Russian government's actions in defence of "constitutional >order" and "territorial integrity." He said: "Both India and the Russian >Federation have committed themselves to take joint action against >aggressive nationalism, religious and political extremism, terrorism and >separatism." > > ********************* > >5) British news item > >Connex dispute set to escalate. > > TRAIN drivers employed by the south London commuter train company Conner >Central are set to step up their industrial action with a series of six >one-day strikes beginning on 25 January. > > The dispute has been running for months and concerns an agreement reached >between the drivers' union Aslef and Connex management to cut the working >week from 37 to 35 hours and that all pay should count towards pensions. >Only this has yet to be implemented. > > The union planned a work to rule and overtime ban to start over the >Christmas and New Year period but Conner obtained a court injunction >against this, rather than sit down and negotiate with the union about the >implementation of the agreement. > > Connex used the injunction to impose heavy overtime schedules throughout >the holiday period when drivers wanted some opportunity to be with their >families. This caused very strong feelings. > > But the overtime ban did come into force two weeks ago and since then the >Connex services have been severely disrupted. Up to 380 trains a day have >had to be cancelled and the company has been forced to reschedule many >services. > > Aslef points out that this indicates Conner's incompetence to run a >railway without demanding levels of overtime that exhaust drivers -- with >obvious safety implications for drives and passengers. > > Aslef says the company has had plenty of time to recruit new drivers since >the cut in hours was agreed. > > >ridiculous > > Aslef general secretary Mick Rix said: "It is quite ridiculous that Conner >relies on train drivers in a stressful and safety-critical job to work >their rest days simply to deliver a normal timetabled service." > > Now Connex is saying it agreed only to "work towards" a 35 hour week and >100 per cent pensionable pay -- providing both schemes were "self-financing". > > Connex management will not say exactly what it means by this but the >implication is that it can only be achieved through cuts in driver >allowances and/or meal break times. > > The union has turned this down flat on the grounds that it is only robbing >Peter to pay Paul. > > Mick Rix has called on Rail Regulator Tom Winsor and the new Strategic >Rail Authority to take account of Connex's inability to run a normal >service without unacceptable levels of overtime when the Connex franchise >is due for renewal. > > He said: "the majority of staff in other sections of the rail industry >already enjoy 100 percent pensionable pay. Why should out members in Connex >have to take a pay cut when they retire? > > He says negotiations with other rail companies have been conducted in a >reasonable manner with an agreeable outcome for both sides. > > Many of Connex's passengers would agree that the company is failing to run >a proper rail service. > > One commuter from Beckenham said: " I don't accept the view that it's just >militant train drivers doing what they want. The strike is another symptom >of a badly run service." > > And another from Finsbury Park said: "I don't really blame the unions or >the rail companies. You have to say that privatisation has not done >commuters an awful lot of good." > > ********************* > > >New Communist Party of Britain Homepage > >http://www.newcommunistparty.org.uk > >A news service for the Working Class! > >Workers of all countries Unite! __________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki - Finland +358-40-7177941, fax +358-9-7591081 e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.kominf.pp.fi ___________________________________ [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe/unsubscribe messages mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] ___________________________________
