Another nail in New Labour's coffin

WHILE BANKS are collapsing, the politicians are busy boasting and back-stabbing at party conferences. New Labour's conference achieved a lot - a lot of hot air, a lot of money wasted (£6 million), and a lot of chatter as another minister resigned. It achieved absolutely nothing for young and working-class people.

Hugh Caffrey

The media talked about prime minister Gordon Brown making the "speech of his life".

On Manchester's streets many words are used for Gordon Brown, and few of them are compliments.

No wonder, when on top of New Labour's right-wing policies, our council tax is footing part of the bill for their event!

The 20 September anti-war demonstration, reported in the last issue of The Socialist, was the first of several protests. Mental health workers protested outside the conference against the sacking of their union rep Karen Reissmann.

The next day, several hundred council workers in the Unite union protested against the real-terms pay cuts New Labour are forcing on them.

On Monday, hundreds of workers from post offices and postal services demonstrated against the closure of post offices and mail centres, the loss of jobs, and the selling off of our services to cowboy private companies.

Addressing the demonstrations, union leaders called for "a change of policy, not a change of leader". It's time for a change of policy all right - we need socialist policies like ones in The Socialist!

We do need a change of leader; but even more we need a change from the three all-the-same parties! What we need is a new party, one that stands up for the millions who are completely ignored by conferences like this.

This last week will come to be seen as another nail in New Labour's coffin, and another day closer to the founding of a new mass working-class party.