The New Year will see even more cuts and the prospect of the country lurching into another recession looms large. The callous incompetence of this dreadful Tory-Lib Dem coalition makes a toxic governmental cocktail that is plunging Britain into a modern-day Dickensian era.
The rich kids in charge at the top of our Government have never wanted for anything in their lives. The pandered brats have grown into adult brutes dishing out misery on people less fortunate than themselves.
They lived their childhoods and adolescent years in a cocooned world where their whims were indulged and their privileged adult lives are a million miles from the rest of us.
And yet they continually spout their Orwellian mantra that “we’re all in it together”. What utter tosh!
Even Margaret Thatcher’s reign was not as cold-hearted as these Bullingdon bully boys and their obsequious quisling collaborators in the Lib Dems.
With almost 2,000 people losing their job every day and pitiless benefit cuts coming into effect, 2012 will be a bleak year indeed for the victims of Messrs Cameron, Osborne and Clegg.
That is why we must stand up for the role of “the state” in generating economic growth and regulating capitalism. The ‘state’ AKA ‘big government’ is despised by those advantaged Tory Ministers but it provides a lifeline to millions of ordinary people.
Let’s remember ‘big-government’ is doctors, nurses, teachers, park keepers, police, fire-fighters, tax collectors, social workers, street cleaners and others occupations that make our society adecent place to live.
Let’s remind people that Labour Governments use the state to improve life for most people. From lower crime to reducing NHS waiting lists and better chances for more children to improved security in old age.
Labour must offer hope in 2012 – and with more local authorities likely to go Labour in May’s council elections, Labour in local government can act as a bulwark against Government excesses.
Mr Cameron might well have secured a short term bounce from his EU veto, but as the cuts bite even harder in 2012, the cruel Tory truth will emerge. That is why Labour must remain the standard-bearer for fairness in the New Year showing people there is a better and a fairer way forward.
Chris Williamson is the MP for Derby North.
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