Credit Crunch: Public service investment key to recovery

by John Stevenson

Investment in public services will be essential to stabilising our economy, maintaining demand and employment and underpinning future growth, UNISON’s Dave Watson told a conference at Glasgow University.

“The crisis in the financial system, caused by the greed and irresponsibility of a privileged minority, now threatens the living standards and future security of millions of ordinary working people. Jobs, homes, savings, pensions, and essential public services are at risk”, Dave said.

Dave set out a list of actions needed now to protect working people and rebuild the economy.

“Public services have a vital role in protecting individuals, families and communities”, said Dave.

There needed to be...

• relief from rising fuel bills, financed by a windfall tax on the profits of the energy sector, with price controls if needed.

• action to minimise evictions and homelessness, including empowering councils to take on threatened homes.

• abandoning the public sector pay policy which “imposes real terms pay cuts on millions of workers.”

• action on pensions to prevent enforced closure of schemes.

• direct public ownership instead of the waste of PFI

• better regulation to stop the bank ‘excesses’ which contributed to the problems.

For the future, he demanded an end to the”casino capitalism” which placed speculative gain before investment in industry and essential services.

And in the longer term, Dave called for: “a new economic programme for the UK that puts fairness and the needs of the majority first.”

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