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Class War issue 81: Keeping His Distance
In September 1998 a former resident of Hackney returned to the east London borough to talk about the perils of social exclusion. He should know. The former resident was Prime Minister Tony Blair who lived on Mapledene Road for 6 years in the 1980s, and wisely turned down the opportunity to become a Labour Councillor in the borough. He has gone a long way in 20 years.
Blair's visit was to praise the re-development of the Holly Street estate. He went on state "What an incredible transformation. This is the type of initiative we need to see replicated across the country."
As Hackney's self-induced financial crisis has taken hold one of the council's first suggested cutbacks was...on the Holly Street Estate. One block is reserved for pensioners only, and comes with a concierge. The Labour-Tory coalition's suggestion was to cut the concierge to reduce the council's deficit. No mention of course of cutting their own salaries or expenses, and certainly no suggestion that Tony Blair himself, so keen to promote the area 18 months earlier, should return for this part of the incredible transformation!
Hackney Council has a strategy. Despite 3 brilliant strikes by its workforce, it wishes to push ahead with plans to cut the salaries and terms and conditions of its workers. A streamline, fitter Hackney is more acceptable to big business. By putting up rents and council tax, whilst reducing council services they intend to not only reduce their debts (which, despite talk of bankruptcy are arguably no worse than some other inner-city council's) but to tighten the vice on the poorest people in the borough. Council leader Max Caller and the Lab-Tory leadership of Jules Pipe and Eric Ollerenshaw appear so confident of their positions that they have simultaneously taken on a large section of their workforce, and a significant section of the local population. The last time they tried to do that was during the Poll Tax and we all know how that ended up.
Two excellent methods of fighting the council have been proposed which we endorse totally. One is a sort of selective rent strike where residents simply pay their rent at the 2000-01 rate, rather than the increased rate. If tens of thousands of residents do this, the council's already low expectations of rent collection will fall even further.
Like all workplaces Hackney Council relies on the goodwill of its staff. Each general election hundreds of staff volunteer to work as tellers assistants at schools and libraries serving as polling stations. These premises need to be opened in the morning, and they normally are by a union member. They have to be staffed throughout the day. If workers simply decline to volunteer on polling day most of the polling stations will be closed. Not their problem. No legal action can be taken against them, or their unions as they are simply declining to volunteer.
It will however be the problem of council leader Max Caller, who is the returning officer for the election, something that involves onerous legal responsibilities. As it is the council and the councillors that are the problem, what better response could there be than to ensure on council election day May 3rd, they get a timely kick up the arse. To disrupt the parliamentary elections by this tactic would be an act of national significance.
Back to issue 81 contents
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