“Our argument is simple: government should be investing in wages, welfare and public services, not forcing ordinary people to bear the cost of an escalating arms race.”
Ahead of the International Anti-War Conference this weekend, Maryam Eslamdoust, TSSA General Secretary writes on why working people should not foot the bill for an arms race at the expense of public services.
Last week saw the resignation of John Healey, the Defence Secretary, and Al Carns, one of his Ministers, over an apparent lack of funding for British defence. The resignations triggered a round of weekend media debate about how much we should be spending and a clamour to increase it.
While journalists, generals, and former Ministers pressed the case for increasing military expenditure, at our annual Conference in London this weekend TSSA members debated the union’s strategy for tackling job cuts at Network Rail and the transition to Great British Railways.
Over a year ago, unknown sources at the DfT suggested that thousands of people could lose their jobs in the transition to public ownership. Fast forward a few months, and Network Rail announce an “efficiencies” programme that will see potentially 870 of the workers my union represents lose their job. Thousands more jobs are being taken out of the organisation through steps such as not filling vacancies. The job losses are a direct result of cuts to the current budgeting period for Network Rail.
Another example is Southeastern, where jobs have been axed as the Train Operating Company and the Network Rail Southern Region merge functions. When we raise our concerns with Ministers, we are met with words about the “challenging fiscal context” and the need to make savings where it’s possible to do so.
At the Spending Review last year, while the Government announced a host of big ticket rail projects, the headline spend for rail infrastructure was actually budgeted to fall by 1% over the Parliament, while day-to-day spend at DfT fell by 5%.
So, the story for investment in rail – and the good, green climate jobs it creates – has not been a positive one. Conversely, while the DfT has faced cuts, and spending on transport infrastructure is forecast to fall, the big winners of last year’s Spending Review were defence and health.
We cannot object to an increase in investment in our NHS, which is on its knees. But increases in defence spending came as the White House demanded European leaders increase their contribution to NATO. As the US adjusts its defence posture, it has called on its allies to foot the bill.
The headline group to pay the price was disabled people. Last year’s attacks on PIP were attempted to finance the increase of defence spending to 2.5% of GDP, with the longer-term aspiration to raise it to 3%.
For TSSA, the choice should not be between economic security at home and security abroad. We reject the idea that working people should be asked to pay the price for political choices that reduce welfare provision while increasing military expenditure. Our argument is simple: government should be investing in wages, welfare and public services, not forcing ordinary people to bear the cost of an escalating arms race.
But the redistribution goes beyond the benefit system and is embedded in the spending priorities for the whole economy; record investment for the military but cuts and job losses for rail. Now some are calling for an increase in defence spending to 5% of GDP.
Enough is enough. That is why we are supporting the Stop the War Conference taking place this Saturday. Militarisation is diverting resources away from our industry at a time when it is needed most – to drive growth, make our economy more productive, connect our communities, and meet our climate objectives by facilitating a modal shift from road to rail.
The drive to war, and the chaos and uncertainty it has caused, also directly affects the living standards of our members. Too often, governments seek to project strength through military posturing without fully considering the human and economic costs. Workers know that wars do not just devastate communities overseas; they can also drive up energy prices, fuel inflation and deepen the cost-of-living pressures faced by families here at home.
We will not let any government off the hook when decisions taken in the name of national prestige or geopolitical competition risk making working people poorer, less secure or more vulnerable. Our responsibility is to stand up for our members, advocate for peace, and ensure that working-class communities do not shoulder the burden of policies that will fail to deliver social and economic justice.
- Maryam Eslamdoust is speaking at the International Anti-War Conference & Assembly in London on Friday, 19 and Saturday 20 June. You can find out more here.
- Maryam is the General Secretary of the Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA). You can follow the TSSA on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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