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Patients Say Closure Is “Life and Death” For a Solidarity workers’ government For social ownership of the banks and industry No 323 7 May 2014 30p/80p www.workersliberty.org Patients say closure is “life and death” See page OCCUPIED TO 3 STOP NHS CUTS! 2 NEWS What is the Alliance for Workers’ Liberty? The new privatisation Today one class, the working class, lives by selling its labour power to another, the capitalist class, which owns the means of production. Society is shaped by the capitalists’ relentless drive to increase their By Ed Whitby wealth. Capitalism causes poverty, unemployment, the blighting of lives by overwork, imperialism, the Social Finance and Social destruction of the environment and much else. Impact Bonds are becom - Against the accumulated wealth and power of the ing a popular idea for capitalists, the working class has one weapon: public sector funding. solidarity. The Alliance for Workers’ Liberty aims to build Social Impact Bonds (SIBs solidarity through struggle so that the working class can overthrow sometimes called Payments capitalism. We want socialist revolution: collective ownership of for Success Bonds) began industry and services, workers’ control and a democracy much fuller under the Labour govern - than the present system, with elected representatives recallable at any time and an end to bureaucrats’ and managers’ privileges. ment in 2010. Private in - We fight for the labour movement to break with “social partnership” vestors lend the public and assert working-class interests militantly against the bosses. sector money to meet cer - Our priority is to work in the workplaces and trade unions, tain social “benefits” or tar - supporting workers’ struggles, producing workplace bulletins, helping gets. Investing in social organise rank-and-file groups. projects for profit is led in We are also active among students and in many campaigns and the UK by Social Finance alliances. UK. (Its sister organisation in the US is Social Finance We stand for: US). ● Independent working-class representation in politics. One of its key projects is ● A workers’ government, based on and accountable to the labour Social Impact Bonds, often movement. using payment by results. ● A workers’ charter of trade union rights — to organise, to strike, to With SIBs, Social Finance London Mayor’s rough sleeper project has been financed by a SIB. Outcomes are minimal. The picket effectively, and to take solidarity action. identifies an area where underlying problems are not getting much better ● Taxation of the rich to fund decent public services, homes, education they believe they can help and jobs for all. reduce long-term costs by ● A workers’ movement that fights all forms of oppression. Full investing up front. Key ex - will soon not be able to profit into public services as inflation. equality for women and social provision to free women from the burden amples so far have been meet their legal require - long as private companies PFI buildings also had re - of housework. Free abortion on request. Full equality for lesbian, gay, prevention of reoffending, ments are desperate for so - didn’t deliver the services, strictive contracts and lim - bisexual and transgender people. Black and white workers’ unity and children in care. lutions. and weren’t directly profit - ited access. A PFI school against racism. As with PFI, the investors If the work is successful, ing out of the sick, children building was only the they say, then the social or the poor. school’s from 8am to 6pm. ● Open borders. will ensure they make benefit is achieved. In these But gradually these proj - The community which used ● Global solidarity against global capital — workers everywhere have money (by receiving a pay - austere times when councils ects started to take on what the school as a hub for regu - more in common with each other than with their capitalist or Stalinist ment for the service plus a or hospitals are strapped for were called “soft” services lar activities, (clubs, sports, rulers. return). As with PFI, the cash, why not let the private such as cleaning, manage - meetings, leisure) could ● Democracy at every level of society, from the smallest workplace or private sector is experi - sector lend a hand? ment of the facilities and rarely afford the private community to global social organisation. menting with public serv - For councils to cut pre - catering. The companies rent of these gleaming new ● Working-class solidarity in international politics: equal rights for all ices, but this time the risks ventive services and then wanted to profit from us buildings in the middle of nations, against imperialists and predators big and small. are not to the building or bring in the private sector in renting our own buildings working class estates. ● Maximum left unity in action, and openness in debate. council finances but to the to “solve” the crisis they back from them (at vast The building were like ● If you agree with us, please take some copies of Solidarity to sell — lives of the most vulnerable create for the most vulnera - cost) — and from the staff statues erected to “show and join us! in our society. ble is ridiculous. But this who worked in them as off” private finance.They CAMERON appears to be just what is well. were a reminder of the fail - Contact us: David Cameron and the being considered. We can Hence PFI contracts for ure of PFIs, from a govern - challenge this, but only if buildings included out - ment who had failed these ● 020 7394 8923 ● [email protected] chief economist of Gold - man Sachs claim SIBs will we make an attempt to un - sourced cleaners, catering communities. The editor (Cathy Nugent), 20e Tower Workshops, Riley revolutionise public fi - derstand this new phenom - and support staff. And how was PFI for Road, London, SE1 3DG. nances, enable innovation ena. PfI workers? ● Printed by Trinity Mirror and returns to investors. The labour movement Look where the battles for must stand up to “PFI Mark 103 PFI deals in the NHS union recognition, living They have even been 2”. We need to fight crude under the last govern - wages and rights at work in given tax relief under the targets linked to profit, for ment, were worth £11.4 the last few years have Get Solidarity every week! new investment tax relief. reduced workload and billion. taken place. They are in out - Cash-strapped local coun - ● Trial sub, 6 issues £5 o more resources. By the time that they are sourced contracts, cleaners cils are now embracing so - The unions should de - and catering staff at univer - ● 22 issues (six months). £18 waged o paid off, they will have cost cial finance and SIBs. mand a future Labour gov - more than £65 billion. When sities, schools and colleges, £9 unwaged o Several councils including ernment and local councils these costs were revealed as in hospitals. Where soft ● 44 issues (year). £35 waged o Manchester, Birmingham reinvest public and demo - part of a report on Govern - services were outsourced as £17 unwaged and Essex have SIBs for vul - cratically accountable funds ment use of PFI, Margaret part of PFI, the results for o nerable children, the GLA into services. workers were cuts to pay European rate: 28 euros (22 issues) Hodge MP, chair of the ● o has SIBs to challenge home - Otherwise the results are Public Accounts Commit - and conditions and rights. or 50 euros (44 issues) o lessness and DWP are using likely to be similar to those tee, described them as We might have hoped the Tick as appropriate above and send your money to: SIBs to tackle unemploy - with PFI. “staggering”. PFI has been unions had learned the les - ment. Under the Labour gov - sons from PFI. 20e Tower Workshops, Riley Road, London, SE1 3DG totally exposed for what it Public funds identified ernment we saw the expan - was — privatisation. Even the Tories under Os - Cheques (£) to “AWL”. for vulnerable children, the sion of private finance in As councils and hospitals borne have proposed not to Or make £ and euro payments at workersliberty.org/sub. unemployed and homeless the public sector through face massive cuts to budg - include soft services and to will be paid to these private PFI in capital projects. ets, councils and the NHS include greater public-to- Name . investors, who are skillful at The initial cost of these are still paying for build - private ratios, public ap - setting outcomes that they expensive projects were ings in which they can no pointments on boards, less Address . know they can achieve and borne by the private sector. longer afford to run services deTbht iasn ids hniogth bere sccarustien yth. e thus secure a return on their The way they got profit was — such as libraries, schools Tories oppose private fi - . “investment”. by taxpayers, i.e. us, paying and hospitals! All this when nance in the public sec - Why are Labour councils them back through rent government borrowing is tor. They just want to I enclose £ . joining the queue to work over 30 or more years. cheaper than private bor - reinvent it so it looks less with SF and use SIBs? New Labour’s thinking rowing, and in fact pays in - obscene. Councils so strapped for was that the public could terest rates lower than money they knowing they bear the encroachment of 3 NEWS Occupied to stop NHS cuts! By Beth Redmond vere personality disorders. group to make sure the con - sorship system which al - The Lifeworks centre, an This would mean closing sultation process was not lows patients who are too ill open clinic service in the Lifeworks centre on just a tick-box exercise and to stay in the building to Cambridge for people Tenison Road in Cambridge to make sure our side was support those who can, and who suffer with personal - and patients would become heard”.
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