Reading my morning newspaper at breakfast the other day, I nearly choked on my deep-fried Mars bar and can of Coke. A new report from the Office for National Statistics shows a clear link between poverty and early death. Up here in Caledonia, health is a devolved issue, so the gauntlet fell to New Labour robot, Andy Kerr, MSP, to announce to the nation; "People who live in deprived areas have a significantly shorter life expectancy than those who live in affluent areas". As national spokesman for white van man everywhere, Little Richardjohn, might say - You couldn't make it up.
Glasgow, the heart-attack capital of Europe, has the lowest life expectancy in Britain, 69.3 years compared to Kensington and Chelsea whose resolute residents can expect a longevity of more than 85 years. My own area, North Lanarkshire runs Glasgow close. In all, 7 out of 10 of the worst places for premature death are in Scotland. 3 years ago, Lanarkshire Health Board Trust, almost £7 million in debt (the Trust Chairman has since been knighted) announced the closure of the Children's Ward at Monklands Hospital. Paediatric services were to be transferred 10 miles away to the PFI built Wishaw General. An unsuccessful campaign, in which some socialists were involved, was typically ignored by the witless MSP's and other elected officials. Now the Accident and Emergency Unit is to close. It can be safely predicted that Monklands Hospital will be sold at some future date to housing developers. This is a direct result of running the NHS along business lines, applying profit margins and the archaic laws of the market to essential services and the health of working class people. Already the result of PFI is a complete fiasco. The well-established contracting out of cleaning services and the need for companies to make big enough profits to satisfy their shareholders has undoubtedly contributed to the appalling record of MRSA in Monklands Hospital.
But it's not all doom and gloom. While some superbug is munching its way through your body, "clients" as patients are now called, can hire a telly service "complete with Sky Sports" for only £2.50 per day. "Now you needn't miss an episode of Emmerdale, Coronation Street or Eastenders during your stay..." says the glossy brochure.
The woeful inadequacies of prototype New Labour politicians like Andy Kerr will be exposed for all to see in the coming period. The major issue now unfolding is around the council tax. Professor Arthur Midwinter, the Scottish Parliament's own financial adviser is quoted in The Herald newspaper, 12th October, as saying, "Councils are faced with a stark choice between taxes and cuts...(the Scottish Executive) has burdened councils with extra duties and demanded they make efficiency savings". It is a situation which leaves councils needing to save £108 million next year and limit council tax increases to 2.5% at most. Councils are complaining that they have not been given enough financial support by the Executive to balance the books. Without cuts in jobs and services the council tax needs to rise by an average of £82 just to keep things as they are. Ministers have already reduced grants by £58.5 million for 2006/7.
Convention of Local Authorities (COSLA) President, Pat Watters, a proverbial lap-dog of New Labour and all it stands for, has been forced to criticise First Minister Jack McConnell and Finance Minister, "Gorgeous" Tom McCabe - this must have ben very difficult for Watters.
After regaining his composure at the shock horror news that poverty equals early death, Kerr told the press, "We will identify those people who are at risk and try to help them". The problem for Kerr and his equally hapless colleagues in Holyrood is that when you cut services to the bone and run the health service to suit business, closing hospitals so that Health Trusts can sell the land for profits, then you really will find it difficult to help the most vulnerable and deprived people.
The real answer is for local authorities to force the Executive into giving them the cash they need to fund decent services to tackle the social problems faced by the Scottish working class. To do this they need a united campaign, where they explain how the loss of jobs and services will affect the most deprived adding to the social and health problems. The spotlight must be put firmly onto the Lib-Lab coalition who have in their power the means to abolish the council tax and replace it with a system based on ability to pay, and one where the wealthy will be forced to pay their fair share to society. They must place the needs of the poorest at the top of the agenda which would electrify the political situation here and support for such moves would be overwhelming after years of Tory policies which have hurt the majority of Scots workers, pensioners, the sick and unemployed.