Escalated Thatcherism in Britain

by Stephen Lendman

A previous article discussed Thatcherism. It's Chicago School fundamentalism writ large. It's financial terrorism. It's hugely exploitative.

It's forced-fed austerity. It's corporate welfare. It's mass privatizations. It benefits business and society's wealthy. It's government of, by, and for privileged elites alone.

It's fundamentally unfair. It's cutthroat predatory capitalism. It's one-sidedly pro-business. It's ruthlessly anti-democratic, anti-populist, and anti-labor.

It's cruel and unusual punishment. It's humanity's scourge. It's business as usual in America. It's policy in other Western societies. It's merciless.

In modern times, inequality's greater than ever. Unprecedented wealth disparity reflects it.

It's transforming Western nations into ruler/serf societies. It's thirdworldizing them. It's making them unfit to live in.

Young people have no futures. An entire generation's lost. It feels hopeless. Children suffer most. Britain's perhaps Exhibit A for what's wrong.

On July 21, London's Independent headlined "Government's welfare benefits and tax changes amount to 'speeded-up Thatcherism.' " Escalated social benefit cuts are planned.

"Research for the Fabian Society claims cuts to benefits and tax credits, particularly for working-age families with children, will amount to a 'speeded-up replay of Thatcherism.' "

By 2015, inequality will increase twice as fast as now. Howard Reed heads Landman Economics. Previously he was Institute for Public Policy Research chief economist.

His report is titled "The Inequality Boom." Britain's poorest households will lose over 12% more of their net income on average, he says. It compares to 3% for UK's second most wealthy income bracket.

Regressive tax and benefit policies bear full responsibility. Britain's Council tax is one of many examples. It charges low to middle income families much more than wealthy households.

According to Reed:

It's "quite possible that the impact of the coalition's tax and benefit measures would be as bad for inequality as the Thatcher government's record, despite the fact that, by 2015, David Cameron will have been Prime Minister for less than half as long as Margaret (she) was."

"Looked at in this way, the coalition government's tax and benefit reforms are like a speeded-up action replay of Thatcherism."

"This may come as a particular shock to Liberal Democrats in the government, many of whom spent the 1980s railing against (this) kind of increase in inequality."

Fabian Society's Andrew Harrop says:

"This research reveals that income inequality is set to rise sharply in this parliament."

"But since 2010, barely a word has been heard from the Labour Party on equality, certainly compared to past generations."

It shares equal guilt with Torries. So do most other parliamentarians. They're self-serving. They don't care.

"Faced with a Thatcher-style inequality boom, Labour (and other parliamentarians) must rediscover (their) egalitarian core and never forget that redistribution must be part of the answer," said Reed.

He named two major sources of inequality:

(1) "Distribution of gross market incomes" before taxes or transfer payments; its largest component is earnings; investments, private pensions and property income are also important.

(2) Government redistribution through taxes and transfer payments.

Inequality's rising because of "increasing dispersion of gross incomes, a reduction in the extent of redistribution, or both," said Reed.

Thatcher escalated inequality. She launched a corporatist revolution. She headed Britain down a slippery slope. Unfettered predatory capitalism became policy.

She transferred public wealth to private hands. She privatized British Telecom, British Gas, British Airways, British Steel and other state enterprises.

She force-fed deregulation. She cut social benefits. She enacted corporate-friendly tax cuts. She favored Britain's elites. She cracked down hard on non-believers. She waged war on labor. She means-tested benefits.

In 1984, she unleashed thousands of truncheon-wielding riot police against striking coal miners. Doing so sent a message. Worker rights no longer mattered. "New realism" became code language. Free market fundamentalism was policy.

David Cameron's government is worse. He twisted truth saying:

"Margaret Thatcher