June 2001 Blair and New Labour secure "landslide" election victory with fewer votes than the party secured in losing the election in 1992. A minimum of 5.5 million more people did not bother to | vote than in 1997bringing the total of nonparticipants to 18 million: turnout was 59.4% the lowest in British democratic history. Summer 2001 Medical secretaries stage landmark pay strikes in Glasgow and elsewhere. SEPTEMBER I1 2001 October 200l Attacks which destroyed World Trade Centre in New York trigger a new impetus for US imperialism towards war in the Middle East. Blair tail-ends George W Bush's war drive, beginning with Afghanistan: Blair's role is as international gopher seeking to enlist a long line of sceptical countries into a US-led "coalition" waging war on Afghanistan. Blair visits Syria, Saudi Arabia, Russia, rhetoric. Turkey and Egypt.
November 18. Cruise missiles lead aerial bom- November 2001 bardment of Afghanistan as As Home Secretary Britain lends air support but few David Blunkett unveils ground forces to support US conclusions of his invasion. Bush-Blair seek to "review" of the system exploit reactionary Northern for dealing with relugees Alliance as military support and asylum seekers. against Taliban regime. The result protestors staged a Day
of Action. Blunkett's is replacement of one reactionary government with anoth- proposals included er: the pledges of democracy and scrapping the hated
"voucher" system which liberation for Afghanistan were immediately exposed as empty had humiliated asylum
seekers, but focused Stop the War Coalition launched, instead on increased use
of detention in expand staging major demonstration on
Wing "reception centres" November 2001 Health Secretary Alan Milburn revealed plans for even greater use of private hospital beds to treat NHS patients, and greater use of private nursing homes for older patients: 70% of long term beds for elderly are already in private sector. Milbur goes on to suggest a return to competition between NHS hospitals - one of the most costly and controversial elements of the Tory market-style reforms of 199l, , 9/11 was eized upon by Bush as an ideal - imperialist offensive - pretext for US i backed by Blai January 2002 Bush administration - backed by Blair -sets up "Camp X-ray" set up in Guanatamo, Cuba, for the indefinite detention without trial, interrogation and torture of prisoners captured during Afghan invasion without allowing them Geneva Convention rights as prisoners of war February 2002 Collapse of giant Enron corporation owing billions to staff, creditors and shareholders, and discrediting of its auditors, the accounting and consultancy giant Arthur Andersen - source of the government's claimed "evidence" that the Private Finance Initiative represents value for money as a means to pay for new hospitals, schools, etc. David Blunkett unveils a White Paper on immigration and asylum "Secure borders, safe haven", aimed at reducing numbers of migrants and refugees allowed in to Britain: detention places have already expanded 4fold under New Labour from 700 in 1997 to 2800 in 2002
A new Education Bill outlines plans for a 2-tier schools system, encouraging greater
autonomy for high-flying "specialist"
schools, and also promoting an expansion
of faith schools - while those deemed to be
"failing" faced the prospect of being managed by the private sector.
Alan Milburn, back from a trip to Spain,
outlines controversial plans for Foundation
Hospitals - in which an elite of top-performing NHS hospitals would be able to
break free from any central control, and
run as non-profit corporations Spring 2002 UNISON begins a campaign of industrial action to increase London weighting payments for staff in local government, which has rumbled on unresolved ever since. Gordon Brown's Budget announces a major increase in funding for the NHS - but not until 2003.
May 10 2002 Potters Bar rail crash, in which 7 died and 76 were injured, underlines the poor quality of privatised engineering work on the rail network and New Labour's folly in refusing to renationalise the system. Private contractors Jarvis subsequently announced that they were unable to ensure the quality of their engineering work on the rail network, and that the company was withdrawing from rail maintenance in order to prevent fur ther erosion of its share price. The company. which has numerous lucrative PFI contracts and is keen to win more, has since 'done a Ratners, and changed its name in order to escape the negative public image Summer 2002 Government plans to impose differential "top-up fees" for university students begin to leak out: Education Secretary Estelle Morris resigns having failed to meet government targets for improved literacy and numeracy in schools, but also making clear her opposi tion to top-up fees Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon repeats his statement that New Labour should be prepared to use nuclear weapons in a preemptive strike. A new Asylum Bill is publishec further tightening restrictions on refugees, and including plans to involve the RAF in
deportations and the Navy in patrolling the coasts to catch sea-borne asylum seekers
Other proposals include the segregation of the children of
asylum seekers into separate
schools, plans to disperse children and young people who
have fled unaccompanied to
Britain, the reintroduction of
the infamous "white list" system in which anyone seeking
asylum from certain countries
is automatically refused, and
new quotas for increased
numbers of deportations
page 9 of the scan
January 2003 Education Secretary Charles Clarke announces plans for "top-up" fees of up to €3,000 to be paid by university students after graduation. Autumn 2002 Firefighters begin a succession of strikes in pursuit of their demand for a minimum of £30,000 for a qualified fire fighter. Labour responds by threatening new anti-union legislation. Setback for New Labour as Blair suffers defeat over the use of the Private Finance Initiative to pay for new hospitals, schools, prisons and other projects. A resolution calling for a full review of PFI, backed by the unions, was carried despite efforts to beat it back: however the decision is ignored, and a limited Treasury review concludes by suggesting a few tinkering changes to PF procedures. A new Communications Bill is published opening up new possibilities for global monopolies such as Rupert Murdoch's News International empire to take over increased sections of British TV and Radio broadcasting. Government attempts to privatise counci housing meet growing resistance as tenants organise to defeat local schemes. Tony Blair begins global campaign to recruit allies to back a new US-led war - on Iraq. Stop the War Coalition gains in strength, mobilsing major demonstration on September 28. Blair publishes the "dodgy dossier" seeking to prove that Iraq has and could potentially use weapons of mass destruction, It subsequently emerges that this includes distorted extracts
garised from a 10-year old PhD thesis. Part of the 2 million-strong February 15 demo: biggest in British history February 15 2003 Two million march through London against war in Iraq, as millions more join huge demonstrations around the world. Blair redoubles efforts to rally support behind Bomber Bush.
March 20 2003
Despite the failure to win
UN endorsement, Blair
backs Bush in launching
US bombing of targets in
Baghdad, which begins
full-scale invasion. British
and US ground forces land
in Iraq from the south.
April 2003 Kurdish forces are encouraged to rise up and take control of northern cities of Kirkuk and Mosul, as the US invasion force drives deep into the centre of the country, incurring thousands of civilian casualties. April 9, Baghdad statue of Saddam Hussein toppled in cynical PR stunt by invading US forces.
February 2004: BBC unions strike against ousting of Greg Dyke while Blair is whitewashed by Hutton May 2003 Labour MP George Galloway faces mounting witch-hunt for his outspoken opposition to the war, culminating in moves to expel him from the Labour Party for having called on British troops to disobey "unlawful orders". May 13 2003 As legislation including provision for Foundation Hospitals begins to face growing opposition from Labour back-benchers, Tony Blair holds breakfast meeting with heads of private hospitals and medical industry promising that they will get a large share of the £2 billion programme to develop "Diagnostic and Treatment Centres" for the NHS. Hunger strikes and protests by asylum seekers forcibly detained Haslar immigration prison in Portsmouth.
Summer 2003 Former French President Giscard D'Estaing unveils a draft of the controversial new constitution for the European Union. Tony Blair's government insists that Britain will not hold a referendum on whether or not to sign up for the eventual document. Revelations by BBC journalist Andrew Gilligan that Blair's team had "sexed up" the September 2002 dossier with claims that Iraq could use weapons of mass destruction within 45 minutes lead to the naming of weapons expert Dr David Kelly as the source by the Ministry of Defence. After Dr Kelly's alleged suicide, Blair immediately announces an inquiry to be conducted ment stooge Protests by consultants in Oxford's Eye Hospital, who complain that the financial viabilicy of their specialist unit could be undermined by handing over a major contract for cataract opera tons (and almost half the hospital's income to private for-profit treatment centre, to be run by a South African company at higher costs than the NHS. September 2003 Blair loses the vote on Foundation Hospitals at Labour conference, but manages to prevent a vote on the Iraq war, and effectively "reclaims" control over the Labour Party, leaving union leaders who had promised a fight within the Party high and dry.
dom. Autumn 2003 Legislation for top-up fees and Foundation Hospitals squeeze through Parliament on the basis of wafer-thin majorities after major revolts by Labour's back benches.
December 2003 US troops attack headquarters of independent Iraqi
List re BraN bato January 2004 March 2004 Hutton Report published yielding predicted whitewash released from of Blair and ministers, but scapegoating BBC management and Gilligan. BBC's chair and director general forced to March 20 resign: NUJ and other BBC unions stage spontaneous protest walkouts against government attacks on press freeCivil servants union PCS calls sion of Iraq. first round of strikes over pay. January 31: Europe-wide day of action in defence of asylum seekers triggers over 50 demonstrations in at least !! countries including Britain the rich.
February 2004 Rail union RMT expelled from Labour Party - which its fore runner rail unions had helped to form over 100 years earlier. The RMT's crime? Allowing its branches to decide which parties and candidates they wanted to sup port with the union's political fund. 21 Chinese cocklepickers perish after being caught by the tide working on the sands of Morecambe Bay - lifting the lid on the abuse of migrant workers by gang-masters piling up profits for capital almost seven years after New Labour took office stance May 2004 9
Hard Labour May 2004 First British detainees John Scarlett, the
head of the Joint Guantanamo, revealing Intelligence systematic torture. Committee whose
evidence to the Hutton Inquiry Over 65,000 people helped cover up marched through London the weaknesses in on the demonstration Blair's "dodg) called by the Stop the War dossier" is Coalition to mark the appointed head of anniversary of the inva- M16
New allegations Gordon Brown's Budget surface of the includes plans to axe at extent of torture least 40,000 civil service murder and ill jobs in order to fund pub treatment of Iraqi lic services without taxing prisoners by
British and US troops
April 2004
A new "payment by results" system begins
to be introduced to the NHS, alongside the
launch of the first ten Foundation Trusts
creating once again the competitive market-style system introduced by Thatcher's
1990s reforms, and which Labour in 1997
had promised to abolish.
In a new upsurge of fighting in Iraq, US
troops engage in massive slaughter of hundreds of civilians and alleged resistance
forces in and around Fallujah- including the
use of fighter bombers and helicopter gunships to attack mosques and civilian houses
Blair, following Bush, lends his support to
Israeli Premier Sharon's plan to institutionalise Israeli annexations - effectively tearing
up the so-called "road map" to peace and
abandoning long-standing UN resolutions
calling for Israeli withdrawal from occupied
terrores
Blair announces referendum will be hel
before Britain signs up to the new EU
Constitution.
page 10 of the scan
10 soclallst resistance May 2004