It would be easy to say that we’ve seen the worst that Rachel Reeves can do following her spring statement which slashed the already paltry level of benefits for the disabled, drove 50,000 more children into poverty, will lead to less money for 3 million families, and will force many people into work that they are not capable or fit enough to carry out. But unfortunately this is only the beginning of her attempt to force us to pay for ever increasing arms spending as well as the refusal of the Starmer government to do anything to tax the rich and powerful.
The truth is that Reeves, backed by Starmer, is flying blind. She claims that this is a great scheme to get the sick and disabled into work but has no idea how many who are losing benefits will be able to find any work. Her ‘financial headroom’ is all but wiped out already and she and Starmer are waiting in trepidation for Donald Trump’s ‘liberation day’ tariffs this week. Even if Britain escapes them directly the trade wars will hit Britain’s economy and therefore her space for manoeuvre over spending.
Everything we know about Reeves and Starmer points to the fact that in such a situation they will find more areas to cut from working class people rather than challenge the priorities of capital and its defenders. So we can expect more cuts, attacks on pensions, and before long a rise in income tax. Meanwhile the rumour is the government is planning to drop the Digital Services Tax in exchange for Trump not imposing tariffs – something that will benefit Elon Musk and other US tech billionaires.
But perhaps the most shocking aspect of this government is its pivot away from giving any semblance of a government promoting welfare, ending poverty or green energy policies. Reeves and Starmer have decided that rearming Europe and turning is good for growth, good giving a handout to some of the biggest manufacturing firms who produce weapons, and good for banging the drum and waving the flag.
It also chimes with a growth of warmongering and nationalism across Europe. As Norway’s opposition parties try to lift a ban on investing in arms companies so France and Germany are both rearming and promoting nationalist ideas in the wake of Trump’s demand that they all spend more on ‘defence’. Starmer and Lammy here claim that Russia is the greatest threat to world peace. While opposing Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and his own warmongering and militarism, the threat from him is incomparably less than it is from Trump.
Trump is threatening to take over Greenland (whose foreign policy is controlled by Denmark, a member of the EU and Nato). He wants to make Canada the 51st state. Not a word of criticism from the British government on either count, given that Nato is supposed to support its member states from attack by others, and that the British king is nominally head of state in Canada. Trump is also launching trade wars across the globe – but far from criticise him and his far-right policies, the other western imperialist powers are appeasing him.
You would think that Britain hardly spent anything on defence but actually it is the 6th biggest military spender in the world. Its military is intricately tied to that of the US technologically and politically. It is competing in an arms race which saw a record $2.4 trillion spent last year worldwide. None of this makes Britain more safe: real security means investing in dealing with climate change, dealing with and eliminating the causes of terrorism, eradicating poverty, ensuring everyone has access to housing and healthcare.
Starmer is on completely the opposite trajectory – as loyal Observer columnist Andrew Rawnsley wrote this week ‘Khaki is the new green’ as Reeves talks about a defence industrial superpower. It may be hubristic nonsense, but this is their serious orientation. It will require massive state investment at the expense of public services. It requires the constant existence of an ‘enemy’ which this expenditure is meant to deter.
We cannot allow them to deflect the anger we feel at what is happening to working class people against workers of other countries, or against refugees. We must instead fight round the slogan of the hour, which is welfare not warfare. As Tony Benn used to say, if there’s money for tanks and bombs, there’s money for schools and hospitals. The demonstration on June 7th against austerity 2.0 takes on a very great importance in this light and will be a large manifestation of every movement who backs this demand.
After Wednesday there is a shift in the political atmosphere as more people realise the brutality of this Labour government. June 7th is a chance to bring these and much more together in a show of mass opposition to the government’s austerity and warmongering. We mustn’t blow this chance.