The rally for public services on June 27, at the Methodist Central Hall in London, was supported by 16 trade unions.
John McDonnell MP introduced the event on behalf of the "Public Services not Private Profit" campaign. There was an urgent need to stop privatisation, as it was a way of transferring public money to the private sector. In a recent poll, 75 per cent of people had had enough of privatisation.
Tony Benn said that privatisation was a way of trying to keep down public spending, but it only leads to higher costs and poorer services.
Mark Serwotka (PCS) called for re-nationalisation. Unions were stronger when they stood together, and the public was behind us. Gordon Brown was overseeing the sell-off of public assets. He asked why wasn't the TUC supporting the event? He set the lead by calling for a national demonstration for the public services in the autumn and a day of action. This was the most dynamic speech and the main call for action.
Janet McKnight (NACRO) said that staff morale had never been lower, and services never worse. How could anybody possibly justify privatising the probation service?
Jeremy Dear (NUJ) agreed that it was the biggest such rally for decades. He claimed that the current government was "not fit for purpose." Deregulation meant lower quality programmes. He also backed the idea of a national demonstration.
Billy Hayes (CWU) identified the scandal of water privatisation. He explained how privatisation always leads to attacks on wages and conditions. He also asked why hadn't the TUC organised the event?
Dave Prentis (UNISON), a notable absentee, sent his apologies but also best wishes. A reserve UNISON speaker called privatisation a disaster. After water was sold off, there was an investment strike, which led directly to today's probichs.
The leaks in the UK were the worst in Europe, apart from Bulgaria. Rail was a similar disaster, but the biggest problems were in health. Even the treasury was getting worried about the size of the costs involved in PFI hospitals.
He reminded us that public investment was much cheaper.
Matt Wrack (FBU) said that members had been forced to take strike action to defend services. There was nothing "modernising" about cutting and closing fire stations. National standards of fire cover had been abolished. We needed democracy in public services and more of a fight back from the unions was required.
Michael Meacher MP said that privatisation leads to a two-tier service.
We needed fair employment laws, not anti trade union laws, and a decent minimum wage. An independent foreign policy was also required. He called for an end to the blackmail of the housing sell-off and said a loud no to City Academies.
Steve Sinnott (NUT) gave what was probably the feeblest speech of the day.
He said he had just come from a meeting at No. 10, and how he had acknowledged the increase in public spending but felt unease about the market approach to education. That was hardly the word and spirit of the NUT conference.
Prejudice was guiding policy and the choice agenda may be popular with the better off, but was bad for the poor.
In the private sector the pupil/teacher ratio was 9:1, in the state sector it was 16:1.
During the afternoon trades amonists present were called out to lobby their MPs on a rotational basis, region by region, as the rally continued with other speakers.
Overall it was a very useful and spirited rally, held on a working day.
However, the New Labour privatisers will only really sit up and take notice if Mark Serwotka's call for a national demonstration and a day of action are taken up, built upon and turned into a reality.
The TUC plans no such thing of course, so the public sector leaders should be pushed into calling one themselves.
This campaigning can be linked to the "Organising for Fighting Unions" conference, on November 11.
As Blair once again takes electoral catastrophe as a mandate for more of the same, the need for a coordinated fight back on the scale of France is becoming ever more urgent.