No laughing matter

SEEING the political fallout from the abolition of the 10p lower rate of tax was a bit like watching the careless gardener who leaves a rake in the long grass, only to return later to step on it and get a smack on the gob.

Certainly, anyone whose policies make David Cameron look like the protector of the poor, Boris Johnson mayor of London and sees Tories gain seats in the south Wales valleys has a special skill. It's certainly no laughing matter.

And there are plenty of other rakes in Brown's long grass ready to spring up and smash into Labour's face. The only mystery regarding this month's election results was that it took so long to happen.

Way back in November 2002, Wales Diary reported on Brown's "shameless attack on the unemployed," the New Deal which promised "harsh new penalties for those who refuse a job." It was an onslaught, Brown said, on "the unacceptable face of worklessness that grew up in the 1980s and early 1990s.

In May 2004, reported this diary, Brown, "resembling Sir Stafford Cripps, the dessicated calculating machine," was setting people on a "path to poverty" with a Treasury plan for regional pay that would set in train "a downward pay spiral in the areas with the weakest labour market, such as areas of high unemployment."

In October 2004, under the title "Mad axeman's policy exposed," I commented on the axing of thousands of Civil Service jobs in Wales which, according to PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka, would "be dire not only for working people delivering vital services, but, in the end, for users such as the unemployed and pensioners." So it has proved.

That it took a clumsy attempted sleight of hand to bring things out into the open is alarming. The fact that no politician of any ilk noticed the harm that it would do, despite warnings from the National Pensioners Convention and others of its impact, makes things even worse.

By the way, take no notice of that "knight in shining armour," Birkenhead MP Frank Field. When he was asked by Tony Blair in 1997 to "think the unthinkable" on social welfare, his ideas were so near to the 19th century workhouse culture that not even Blair could stomach them.

In the May 5 local government elections, Brown and new Labour were called to account.

Proper assessments of the results are hard to come by. In the words of broad brush tabloidism, Labour was smashed! The Tories triumphant! Some others did OK. If only life was as simple as that.

The largest single group, the election's big winners, fell under the bracket of "other," who gained 370 seats or 29.45 per cent of total seats in Wales.

The independents are characterised mainly as people who have fallen out with Labour or who are Tories in sheep's clothing.

In Caerphilly, ex-Welsh Labour secretary of state Ron Davies is now an independent. The independent leader of Conwy Council stood as a Tory in the assembly elections. The independents' ranks also include a breakaway from Labour in Blaenau Gwent and one from Plaid in Gwynedd.

Of the 22 counties, just four - two Labour and two Tory - will be run by a single party. And there is no escaping the embarrassment for Labour of losing Merthyr Tydfil. Talk about Keir Hardie turning in his grave.

The British trade union movement founded the Labour Party, but it let it slip from its grasp even before new Labour. There is little sign of a willingness to fight back.

Trade unions and trade councils used to be the foot soldiers who garnered the votes at council elections. But there was no evidence of trade union canvassers this time around, in north Wales anyway. They seem to have lost their appetite for elections.

But it's no good moaning. What is to be done? Llandudno may not seem the obvious place for a Welsh labour movement revolution, but Llandudno it will have to be.

That's where the Wales TUC meets next week for an annual conference with a progressive agenda that begs to be fought for.

It is notable for its bias towards the now Labour/Plaid-run Welsh Assembly, reflecting growing confidence in devolution, but it must be looked at in an English, Scottish and Northern Irish context and take into the account the need to influence Westminster.

The first motion on delivering public services, tabled by UNISON, is a good start. "It is vitally important that Wales continues to pursue an alternative approach to Westminster's over-reliance on market models and the private sector," it says.

To succeed, "it is essential that we invest in the capacities of public service staff and users, giving them genuine opportunities to make active contributions to shaping and improving services."

The motion goes on to call for a campaign around the issues and for "trade union involvement," not a favourite phrase among most Labour ministers.

The call to defend public services is taken up by Prospect and PCS, which point out that plans to close offices and sack public servants are not only a blow to staff, but to the communities which they serve.

The WTUC agenda contains far-sighted motions and calls for the defence of and improvements to the things that make Wales tick. It would certainly ensure a better future for the people who live in Wales - and the rest of Britain, for that matter.

The workers at the coalface need to be listened to at last, especially if Labour is to prosper again.