1st December 2010
Winter, freezing temperatures, and discontent hearts
Mark Hanson
The student protests have made the headlines. The Daily Mail is reporting on the mindless rioting of the educated and the Guardian is reporting on the dubious methods employed by the police. The battle-lines, currently drawn up between the Coalition Government on the one hand and the politically active, and irate, student community on the other, give perhaps some indication of the kind of winter we are facing.
The battle could, all too easily, widen.
Back in June of this year the Trade Union Congress (TUC) headed off strong calls for a general strike. Derek Simpson, the joint general secretary of Unite, the largest union in the UK, dismissed moves by militants within his union to make an official call for a mass walk-out. Yet that was early in the reign of this government, before the full scale of the spending cuts was unveiled.
Given the apparent success of the student action, with the Liberal Democrats giving serious consideration to abstentions on the proposed tuition fees rise, along with a quite feasible possibility that Nick Clegg may condescend to permit his non-Cabinet MPs to actually vote against the rises, we may well see the unions given courage to walk out.
The Conservative-led agenda, however necessary it may appear to be to rectify the terrible state of the public finances, threatens to further alienate a whole swathe of the British public. The Conservatives are mistaken if they believe that Margaret Thatcher is remembered fondly. A vast number of those who grew up under Thatcherism never want to see it re-occur. The pages of left-leaning newspapers and publications are full of outrage that the savage cuts to public services are not only unfair to the most needy, but that this is being brought about by a government that has no clear mandate.
Coalition politics is different to the single party government system, and it seems that the British progressives are discovering that they don’t like it, at least in its current embryonic form. It will take some getting used to, and by the end of the hoped-for 5 year Parliamentary term the public may have changed its mind. But what we have to live with now is a great proportion of those who have a keen interest in the running of this country – from students to union militants to party political supporters who feel disenfranchised – feeling betrayed.
It is one thing to feel betrayed for oneself, yet as the lessons of martyrdom show, to feel angry about a fellow human being betrayed is a far more powerful, and radical, motive.
So the dangerously real possibility is that we will face a winter of discontent 2010 to 2011, and the war-mongers could cry and cause trouble for much of next year. The anger is justified in many respects, and is likely to have the backing of much of the public.
This brings with it a far more insidious possibility: a government clampdown.
The government cannot afford to have scenes such as those seen in Greece earlier this year. Because of the Greek, and now Irish, crisis, the UK government may see itself justified in the austerity measures. It is quite possible that they are right.
What happens when you have a Government which firmly believes that it is right, and a public that firmly believes that it is wrong? The scenes at the student protests may give some clue.
Whilst in many respects the police do a sterling job, the situation with policing protests is not a strong point at present. With the draconian laws brought in by previous governments still on the statute book, even moderate levels of unrest over the next few months may convince the Conservative-led government to think twice about relinquishing powers and strengthening the hand of a public that “does not understand”.
I hope that time shall prove me wrong, but heavy-handed police tactics may be seemingly required to prevent mass disorder if the government fails to listen to the people. The peasants may be revolting, but they cannot be silenced. Then, quite conceivably, the only way for the government to carry on is to use the anti-terrorism laws to full effect.
The only immediately apparent answer is for the government to both clearly state its case, and be open to the possibility that they are wrong. They need not only to promote their policies based on rational argument, but also to listen to those who rationally argue for a different approach. Intelligent debate has not be a strong point in recent years in this country, but it is what is needed right now, and the Government must lead the way.
