Why do the Left support a right-wing policy?
jkitleft Sat Jul 12, 2008 at 04:17:01 PM GMT 
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One of my political heroines is probably the second most important female politician in the UK of the 20th century. If Barbara Castle had got In Place of Strife right, then there is a good chance she could've become the first female PM.
There was one policy of hers though that was anethema to me. It is supported by Campaign group MP's, and it bewilders me. Why do the Left support redistribution from the poor to the rich? Why do they support restoring the link between pensions and earnings?
There was one policy of hers though that was anethema to me. It is supported by Campaign group MP's, and it bewilders me. Why do the Left support redistribution from the poor to the rich? Why do they support restoring the link between pensions and earnings?
I find it madness, that some in our party choose to run up the Red Flag all in the name of allowing the rich to draw bigger pensions.
This government not only decided to take 0.5% of the country's pension system (all out of private pension funds for the upper middle-class), to send waiting lists crashing in the NHS, but they have instead somehow betrayed their principles, by paying tax credits for the poorest pensioners.
Of course, Castle and the rest of the La Pensionaras, were right to mock Brown's pitiful raise of just 75p in pensions. Good in theory, terrible politically.
But of course, Castle was fighting means testing, a process that she said was degrading. To an extent, she was right. But if you want to redistribute money to the poor, you have to find them first.
Beveridge never managed to get a universal pension large enough. So people were never expected to live on the pension alone, it had to be topped up for those who had no extra money.
The basic pension has increased by around 50% in the last decade. When Castle was campaigning against Brown at the 2000 conference, this was the level (at least £90) that Age Concern said was needed for pensioners to survive on, and half of pensioners were living on less, with the basic pension standing at £67.50. Castle wanted to fritter away £11.25 billion on the top third.
True, there are problems with means testing. And Castle claimed that the 500,000 pensioners who didn't claim MIG, were too proud to claim means tested pensions. But research showed many just weren't aware of their rights. MIG is no more charity than pensions themselves.
By the time of the 2001 election, when there were some worries that the Tories would use the 75p decision, and highlight it on every campaign poster, the government had increased pensions by five times as much as the proposals of the Left would have increased pensions.
This government not only decided to take 0.5% of the country's pension system (all out of private pension funds for the upper middle-class), to send waiting lists crashing in the NHS, but they have instead somehow betrayed their principles, by paying tax credits for the poorest pensioners.
Of course, Castle and the rest of the La Pensionaras, were right to mock Brown's pitiful raise of just 75p in pensions. Good in theory, terrible politically.
But of course, Castle was fighting means testing, a process that she said was degrading. To an extent, she was right. But if you want to redistribute money to the poor, you have to find them first.
Beveridge never managed to get a universal pension large enough. So people were never expected to live on the pension alone, it had to be topped up for those who had no extra money.
The basic pension has increased by around 50% in the last decade. When Castle was campaigning against Brown at the 2000 conference, this was the level (at least £90) that Age Concern said was needed for pensioners to survive on, and half of pensioners were living on less, with the basic pension standing at £67.50. Castle wanted to fritter away £11.25 billion on the top third.
True, there are problems with means testing. And Castle claimed that the 500,000 pensioners who didn't claim MIG, were too proud to claim means tested pensions. But research showed many just weren't aware of their rights. MIG is no more charity than pensions themselves.
By the time of the 2001 election, when there were some worries that the Tories would use the 75p decision, and highlight it on every campaign poster, the government had increased pensions by five times as much as the proposals of the Left would have increased pensions.
Yet taking 2 million pensioners out of poverty is somehow seen as unsocialist. There are many things the government has done that are unsocialist, but that is certainly not one of them. I think the government took absolutely the right decision in not restoring the link. Ironically, it is a populist policy that is now pledged to be reintroduced by the Tories, primarily because it helps their heartlands.
If New Labour had been really New Labour on pensions they would've introduced a policy that would win votes, instead of choosing the right policy. They took the latter option, and millions of people are all the better off for it.
Why do the Left support a right-wing policy? | 7 comments (7 topical)
Why do the Left support a right-wing policy? | 7 comments (7 topical)
