"It isn’t a good sign for a British political movement when its early signatories include a Norman Traub of Socialist Resistance". Thus David "Bomber" Aaronovitch opened his article in the Times, Friday 19th November, "Mad Hatters revel at the Tea Party of the Left". In this open letter, submitted to The Times, Norman replies to the pro-war gutter journalist.What is striking about David Aaronovitch’s article on the student occupation of Millbank is his failure to deal with the reasons for the occupation. Not a word about the rise in tuition fees to £,9000 a year, about the cuts to the Education Maintenance Allowance(EMA) and the swingeing cuts in courses and lecturers and teachers jobs. What irked this fervent supporter of the war in Iraq was that following the demonstration by 50,000 students and lecturers in Central London, some 5,000 angry students then had the temerity to occupy the Tory headquarters building, where a few windows were broken! David Aaronovitch benefited from free higher education. He does not express the slightest concern that higher education will in the future become the preserve of the rich. With the cut in the EMA and probable student debt after a 3 year course of £38,000, how many working class children will be able to afford to go to university? The student protests belong to a rich tradition of struggle for universal free education at all levels.
Aaronovitch is particularly concerned at a new mood developing in the “Centre Left” , asking questions about whether the student protests are just the beginning and not being bothered about those few broken windows at Millbank. He echoes Mrs Thatcher when he declares there is no alternative to cuts and that alternatives put forward such as taxing the rich and cancelling Trident are “fantasies”. He is not bothered that those who caused the financial and economic crisis, the bankers, who were bailed out by the billions of pounds of taxpayers money handed to them by the government, pay themselves huge bonuses, while the ordinary taxpayer and poor have to pick up the bill in the big cuts and rises in taxes.
The government have made a political choice. Whereas debt as a percentage of GDP was much higher in the past, the government by adopting a policy of cuts is choosing to rid the rich of the burden of the welfare state. Aaronowich appeals to the Centre Left not to get involved in resisting the cuts but to accept plans for “mutualisation” in public services, which the trade unions reject. What he dreads is a repetition of the demonstrations against the poll tax, which played such a big part in bringing down Mrs Thatcher. He hopes that the New Labour leader will be able to rein in his supporters , who are participating in the anti-cuts campaigns.
These Labour supporters affected by the cuts and rise in taxes as the rest of the population, are joining anti-cuts committees, because they realise this is the only alternative to fighting this attack by the capitalists on their living standards and the welfare state. Socialist Resistance does believe it has a role to play in the process of politicisation of the working class. Aaronovitch may rant against Socialist Resistance, but workers in struggle soon learn to distinguish their class ally from their class enemy.