Thu 19 Mar 2020, 05:30 AM | Posted by editor
LETTER from Tom Smith, Newport West Labour Party
As I predicted, the first budget was a myth. The pound is falling but internationally there is panic in the camp of world leaders. IF there is no vaccine then the situation economically will be nightmare. Capitalist Britain cannot pay wages forever; it cannot pay sick pay forever; it cannot pay rents forever; it cannot grant loan after loan forever, it cannot lock down the population for months and months.
As the limitations of capitalism become more and more apparent, commentators have speculated that the army may have to be used to protect the interests of big business, the bankers, the rich tax-evaders , the hedge fund managers, the owners of the right-wing press and a Tory government.
There are millions of worried workers as schools are shut down and we are all camped within four walls. As the virus bites, there is no guarantee that recovery from illness will mean you cannot get it again.
However, who knows what the economy will look like if the situation continues . A twenty-five thousand grant to a small business will not be a saviour. Once big firms close permanently and small businesses are driven to the wall then workers will take stock. With millions unemployed who pays the rent, who pays the mortgages, how can some even afford to bury a relative?
Meanwhile, the private hospitals, PFI money recipients, the bailouts to big business will be seen as evidence of the failure.
Michael Roberts will be vindicated. Only a planned economy can offer a future. Jeremy Hunt stood valiantly waving a flag for private hospitals. But his pathetic stand will be drowned out by doctors and nurses screaming for proper resources.
Late last night a welder was returning home. Out of a team of 13 only 4 were left by the end of the shift. I asked him was he confident of the future. “What future?”, he replied.
