(en) Britain, AFED Organise! #82 - The Fire Next Time?

We look at the increasing stresses and strains within modern British society, and within 
the worldwide capitalist system as a whole. Will this lead to increasing apathy or to a 
sudden outbreak of protest, of urban uprisings? ---- ?As nations of the world are thrown 
into a debt crisis, the likes of which have never been seen before, harsh fiscal 
?austerity? measures will be undertaken in a flawed attempt to service the debts. The 
result will be the elimination of the middle class. When the middle class is absorbed into 
the labour class ? the lower class ? and lose their social, political, and economic 
foundations, they will riot, rebel, and revolt.? ---- From The Global Economic Crisis: 
Riots, Rebellion and Revolution. When Empire Hits Home, Part 3 
http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-global-economic-crisis-riots-rebellion-and-revolution/18529

It is no accident that Boris
Johnson, the Mayor of London,
is attempting to get a measure
through the Greater London
Authority about the use of water
cannon by the Metropolitan
Police. This wily politician, who
masquerades as a lovable
buffoon, is as sharp as many
other members of his class,
and has their alert class
consciousness. He knows the
social pressures are mounting
continuously with more and more
austerity measures piling up, on
what seems like a daily basis.
Johnson confirmed that he had
made this decision based on
the summer riots of 2011, which
affected several cities in Britain.
As the comedian Jeremy Hardy
has noted: ?He may seem like a
lovable buffoon, but you know
he wouldn?t hesitate to line you
all up against a wall and have
you shot?

In fact the current situation
could be compared to that of the
horrendous torture and execution
device called pressing, of loading
ever increasing weights on to a
prone victim, bringing about their
death via crushing.

ATOS Murderers

The number of suicides as a
result of the Department of
Work and Pensions campaign
against the unemployed, in
collusion with its unemployed
-bashing mercenaries ATOS, is
mounting. Those people who
through disability or physical
and mental illness are on
benefits, are under increasing
pressure from this brutal agency,
which is paid ?100 million (!) a
year to do the dirty work. One
incontinent woman was told by
ATOS to wear a nappy. Another
woman dying of breast cancer
had her benefits cut by ?30
a week. When she appealed,
her benefits were reinstated,
but she died shortly after. Over
half of those who appealed
against ATOS decisions were
found to be justified, and this
increased statistically when they
were represented by lawyers or
benefits advisers. In retaliation,
the Government is planning
to withdraw legal aid from
appellants. In a coordinated
attack on the disabled, the
Government announced
the closure of 36 Remploy
factories, which employed
disabled workers. This resulted
in compulsory redundancies
for 1,700 workers. At the same
time, Disability Living Allowance
is being cut, which will seriously
hinder many disabled people
being able to work.

Attack on the Elderly

As a result of cuts to local
authority spending over the last
four years, at least 250,000 older
vulnerable people are being
deprived of care over such things
as bathing, dressing and eating.
The number of older people
receiving ?Meals on Wheels?
dropped by half. Obviously with
this came a concomitant cut in
the number of care workers.
This increased the pressure on
family carers and friends, with
a resulting increase in hospital
entries. As Holly Holder, a co-
author of a Nuffield Trust report
remarked: ?It is highly likely that
this is having a negative
effect on older people?s
health and wellbeing and that of
their carers, but without
adequate data to assess this
impact, the NHS and government
are flying blind when it comes to
managing demand and planning
for the future.? Already one
thousand-and rising- people
have received letters with
instructions on how to get back
into work, even though some of
them have less than six months
to live. One notable recent case
involved one person being
accounted ?fit to work? when
they had already died!

These cuts in local authority
spending also put pressure
on the elderly in terms of day
centres being closed, as they
also impacted on young people
with the closure of youth centres.

The Student Crisis

The student crisis is one that
will have long term effects. The
axing of student grants in 1998
by the Labour Government
and the introduction of ?1,000
tuition fees was the start on
attacks on easy access to higher
education. These tuition fees
have increased to ?9,000 at the
present time, with the passing
of the Higher Education Act in
2004 by the Labour government
of Blair to introduce variable
fees. This brought in fees of up
to 3,000 a year in the academic
year 2007-2008. In 2010 the
cap on student fees was set
at ?9,000, meaning that
universities could, and
did, raise their fees to this figure.

In late March of this year it
emerged that the Coalition
government is now preparing to
abolish this cap, thus opening
the chance for university
administrations to increase
their annual tuition fees to up
to ?16,000 a year. Already
this is stopping many people
from going to university. It
further confirms the move to a
two-tier education system. In
conjunction with the ending of
student grants in 1998, came the
abolition of maintenance grants
for living expenses starting in the
academic year 1999-2000. This
forced students to take out large
student loans from that date on,
trapping many in debt. Those
now entering the jobs market are
now already in debt to the sum
of tens of thousands of pounds.
Increasingly, only those able to
afford to pay for tuition fees and
living costs at the same time will
be in the position to snap up
lucrative jobs.

Attack on the Homeless

There is also a twin pronged
attack on the homeless,
through government legislation
and through the actions and
policies of the local State,
that is, local councils. The
Coalition government brought in
legislation against the squatting
of empty residential housing
recently, in summer 2012. It is
looking towards extending this
ban to public and commercial
buildings in the coming years. In
London, the number of homeless
people has risen by 60% over
the last two years. In tandem
with this and not just involving
the homeless, but those still
with shelter but in impoverished4
conditions, half a million people
are now using food banks. As
well as attacks on squatting,
the Coalition Government
introduced cuts to local housing
allowances to people in private
accommodation administered
by local councils. In a staggering
display of class arrogance,
Philippa Roe, heading up
finance at Westminster Council,
said that ?If larger families have
to move out strong transport
links will allow children to
travel to schools and friends
and families to stay in touch?.
The Conservative controlled
Westminster Council has paid
a key role in lobbying Ministers
to remove the responsibilities
of local councils to house the
homeless. It attempted to ban
soup kitchens in the vicinity of
Westminster Cathedral in late
2011 but was forced to make
a U-turn after a general outcry.
However plans to ban soup
kitchens in the area are once
again being put on the agenda,
together with a campaign against
rough sleeping. A leading figure
in Westminster Council said:
?Soup runs have no place in the
21st century. It is undignified
that people are being fed on the
streets. They actually encourage
people to sleep rough with all the
dangers that entails. Our priority
is to get people off the streets
altogether. We have a range of
services that can help do that.?

In tandem with this local councils
are increasing their attacks on
the homeless. In many areas,
local councils are fiddling
the figures for the number of
rough sleepers in their area,
deliberately minimising the
numbers. In March of this year
Newham Council, controlled by
Labour, separated an elderly
disabled couple who had found
themselves homeless. They were
put in separate accommodation
in a move reminiscent of the
practice of separating married
couples in workhouses during
the Victorian period! In another
vile move, Newham Council,
with the enchanting figure of Sir
Robin Wales at its head, served
ASBOs on 28 rough sleepers.
They worked in alliance with the
notorious UK Border Agency.
Unmesh Desai was expelled
from the Socialist Workers
Party in the early 1980s for his
advocacy of physical attacks
on the far right, known as
?squadism?. This young radical
has become the Labour Party
enforcer for Newham, with a
post as executive member for
crime and anti-social behaviour.
He went on record as saying:
?Residents do not regard
sleeping, drinking, urinating,
or taking drugs on the streets
and using threatening or violent
behaviour as an acceptable
way of life. We will not tolerate
it, and will take action wherever
we are able to reduce anti-social
behaviour and crime linked to
rough sleeping.?

Attack Social on Housing

The Government pushed
through the Localism
Act in 2012. This was
intended to spearhead
a harsh attack on social
housing, whether either
the rapidly dwindling
council housing or the
housing associations.
Tenants will now be
robbed of security
of tenure. Newly let
council properties
can be let on five
year (occasionally
two year) ?fixed term
secure tenancies?.
Councils can now
discharge those
duties to house the homeless
by insisting they take fixed term
tenancies in council or housing
association accommodation or
private accommodation, with no
security of tenure at all. Before
this, homeless families had to
be offered the choice of a social
housing tenancy, although often
following a period in temporary
accommodation. Housing
Associations can now charge up
to 80% market rents on newly let
properties.

Labour councils as well as those
controlled by the Conservatives,
rushed to implement these
new rules. The Labour councils
of Haringey, Lambeth and
Newham brought in the new 5
year tenancies, despite having
no legal obligation to do so.
Once children of families in
this accommodation move out
(that is if they can afford to do
so) they are then
deemed as under-occupying,
meaning their tenancy will not
be renewed. They can then
be evicted and provided with
insecure private housing. In
private accommodation there
is no security of tenancy, and
families can be evicted with only
a two-month notice. In addition,
in particular problem areas like
London, avaricious landlords
and land speculator sharks have
driven up rents to astronomical
levels. The housing benefit cap
means many will not be able to
afford these rents and are being
forced out of inner-city areas.

The ?500 housing benefit cap
will affect those in housing
association property as rents
are raised. Even those in
employment but on low wages
will be penalised. Mark Hoban,
Minister of Employment, under
the new Universal Credit
scheme, is preparing plans for
those in work, but who need
benefits to top up their income,
to be forced to retrain to up their
incomes or face benefit cuts.

In conjunction with this attack,
there are massive attacks on
those claiming unemployment
benefits. Very large numbers of
jobseekers are being deprived of
benefits for arbitrary reasons. It
is known that jobcentre advisors
have been given targets to
deprive the unemployed of their
benefits.

Attack on Pensions

The government has now sped
up its legislation over the age
of retirement with the age of
receiving a state pension going
up to the age of 66 in 2020. In
addition, the pension age of
women to be equal with that
of men is accelerated, to be
completed by 2018. Plans are
also underway to increase the
State Pension Age to 67 by 2036
and 68 by 2046. The Government
is also looking at applying this
rising State Pension age to
public service pension schemes!
For many, this may well mean
that they work until they do, with
the idea of a happy retirement a
dim and distant possibility.

Meanwhile this Government is
continuing to support sweetheart
deals where its capitalist friends
and supporters, like Vodaphone
and Goldman Sachs, can get
away without paying taxes to
the tune of billions of pounds,
and where millionaires like
Mick Jagger and Bob Geldof
stash their wealth in offshore
companies.

The Ecological Crisis

The idea that climate change is
not a likelihood has received a
thorough soaking lately. Extreme
weather conditions, with their
effects on agriculture and indeed
on housing, are more likely to
be a common occurrence. The
ecological crisis is increasingly
combining with the economic
crisis. So around the world,
particularly in what has been
called the ?periphery of the global
capitalist system? or the ?Global
South?, new environmental
movements are emerging,
involving an increasing working
class component, with an
increasing input from indigenous
peoples in Canada, Latin and
Central America, China, Egypt,
etc. This has involved campaigns
against toxicity and pollution,
against the construction of
dams and high speed railway
lines and tunnels, etc. The need
for increased exploitation on
a global level has given birth
to a ?disaster capitalism? like
never before. The continuation
of humanity is increasingly at
doubt, as is the continuation of
many of the ?higher? species
of animal. Increasingly we may
well see ?and as cited there
are already indications of this-
of a convergence of interests
involving class and labour with
environmental, race and gender
issues, bringing to fruition the
sort of movement the Anarchist
Federation and others have
advocated for the past few
decades (see our pamphlet
The Role of the Revolutionary
Organisation). The need to
develop a ?libertarian front? of all
these movements and groups
is built. Thus, revolutionary
work consists in part of linking
each area of struggle, bringing
out all latent anti-capitalist and
libertarian tendencies.

In Britain such movements could
emerge around the embryonic
anti-fracking and anti-nuclear
power movement, although
it is possible that they could
equally develop around other
environmental issues. Bear in
mind that fracking and nuclear
power are now important planks
in this government?s policies.
The police thugs that were once
used against miners are applying
their brutal tactics to anti-fracking
activists, awakening many to the
nature of the police.

Increasing Police Surveillance

More and more people
are increasingly becoming
witnesses to, and indeed victims
of, police methods. From the
already mentioned attacks on
the anti-fracking activists, via
the attacks and kettling of anti-
capitalist protestors in anti-G8
and anti-IMF actions, and
the anti-fascist mobilisations
where many were kettled and
arrested in Tower Hamlets, to
the increasing criminalisation of
student protest, the most recent
example being the recent kettling
of students in Birmingham. Black
people and Asian people have
long been at the receiving end of
police brutality and harassment,
as have political activists in
recent years. In addition to this
is the increasing use of CCTV in
every sphere of life. The recent
revelations by Edward Snowden
showed that the US and the
British state were colluding in
the mass surveillance of phone
calls, emails, and internet usage.
The police in Britain were used
as a weapon to beat the miners?
strike of 1984-5, and they have
proceeded to play a more overtly
political role, returning to the
one of naked intimidation as
witnessed in previous decades of
struggle. More and more people
are witnessing their true nature,
and among the conscious active
minority of students, this has
been a revelation that has had
a radicalising effect. At the
same time the Government is
attacking the jobs, conditions,
and pensions of the police,
causing certain resentment
there, a factor which could play
a role if there were mass unrest
and mass confrontation.

Coupled with this is the role of
much of the media in whipping
up attacks: on benefit claimants
and the unemployed, on rough
sleepers and squatters, and
on immigrants. Any future
revolutionary movement
must, as a priority, look to the
development of its own media,
its own mass propaganda and
means of communication.

The Coming Social Blaze

We can see that a number of
factors are coming together,
whether over attacks on
pensions, on housing, or over
increasing criminalisation of
dissent. The role of both the
Liberal Democrats and the
Labour Party is being exposed
in many graphic ways. And yet
there appears at the moment to
be no alternative being offered.
The Left, or part of it, still clings
to the Labour Party, whilst other
parts of it attempt to replicate the
?good old days? of Old Labour-
as if its record was any better
than New Labour, and as if
these were not two heads of the
same beast. They seek to raise
the Lazarus of Welfare State
Labourism by their impotent
incantations- Left Unity, The
People?s Assemblies, Trade
Union and Socialist Coalition,
etc.

And yet the anarchist and
revolutionary groupings cannot
seem to gain much of an
audience, and they remain
isolated and small. Numbers
on demonstrations, pickets,
rallies and public meetings
are at low levels, whilst those
involved in campaigns and
local neighbourhood work are
similarly low. The number of
strikes has fallen to a new low,
whilst workplace activism has
been similarly affected.

We have indicated that there are
many increasing stresses and
strains in British society. Many
of these stresses and strains
can be seen in countries around
the world. The magnitude of
the crisis affecting capitalism is
reaching gigantic proportions at
every level. Yet we know that a
social quickening must come at
some point. We cannot predict
where it will first burst out, we
cannot predict how it will spread,
but the likelihood is that it will
burst forth and surprise us all.
Here are some indications of
where it could burst forth. We
have already indicated anti-
fracking and anti-nuclear power
movements as potential poles of
struggle, another could be over
the question of housing. We can
see this in the development of
various private renters groups
that have emerged with their
anti-landlord outlook and their
occupations of up-market
housing. Struggles over the
attacks on social housing and
over gentrification could be
sparks to set off the social bonfire.
Equally, the squatting laws
themselves have been proved
to be full of loopholes, with some
recent examples of acquittals
of those occupying residential
property. The looming intensity
of the housing crisis could ignite
mass squats and occupations of
housing and land. In London the
amount of empty housing has
increased by 40% over the last
year. Kensington and Chelsea
ranks highest in the number of
empty homes among London
boroughs. The centre of London
and indeed of many other major
cities of the world has been sold
to Russian oligarchs and Arab
sheikhs in the ?buy to leave?
phenomenon, where super-
rich overseas buyers use prime
property as an investment, with
no intention of occupying. Whole
areas of cities are becoming
ghost towns. This phenomenon
started with the last financial
crash, when Swiss banks and
other havens of the rich came
under increasing scrutiny. These
people moved their oft dodgy
riches away from the banks to
investing in prime property.