Britain PLC

What am I? A minority of highly-paid, well-connected, highly-privileged and well educated bosses at the top; a middle-tier supporting and maintaining the hierarchy; and a mass of low-paid, underprivileged, workers, working long hours with little or no hope of promotion. I am not only a picture of many businesses, but also the right-wing’s dominant vision of Britain PLC.

The cultural war in America is well documented – that bloody battle between the socially-liberal Democratic (barely) left, and the deeply religious socially-conservative Republican right. But the economic strife racking Britain is engendering a similar, if not more subtle fight about the role and character of our government.

To the avaricious right, the nation is primarily a tool for generating wealth - a corporation guided by an elected board of directors sitting in Parliament. The country’s model of governance ought to follow the model set out by capitalist principles; slavish deference to the bottom line, and just enough investment in the workforce to keep them working. As Francis Maude, the Cabinet Office Minister said recently about the cuts to government spending:

"There's more to come. Frankly, even if it was the most efficient organisation in the world there would be more to come. The best organisations find efficiency savings every single year because that's just what you do. The best companies do this every year so there's definitely more to come and we are nowhere near the most efficient organisation in the world.”

In this view, human dignity is subservient to the finance department’s calculations. There is no basic, universal quality of life that can’t be eroded by the demands of the ledger. It is merely good fortune for the lowest-paid, sick and disabled, unskilled and underprivileged that Britain PLC is the seventh biggest corporation in the world. They enjoy the grace of a generous benefits scheme, but don’t really merit any of it, as those at the top do. The value of a life is inextricably tied to the contribution it makes to the coffers; the more you bring, the more you can take away.

We need another view.

It is an absurdly naive notion that poverty is merely a product of idleness, but listen for long enough to the right-wing’s mouthpieces and this is the only theory that is ever extended. The implication is that all you need to do to lift yourself from penury is to knuckle down and exert more effort. Never mind that there aren’t enough jobs - work harder! Never mind that you don’t have the requisite skills and training for most of the jobs available - work harder! Never mind that you’re chronically ill, disabled or a carer for one or more dependents - work harder!

Our nation – like any nation – will always, and must always have a workforce composed of workers that cover the entire spectrum of skilfulness. We can’t have a nation of 30 million doctors, lawyers and bankers; we need teachers, cleaners, factory workers, builders and road sweepers, and a good case could be made that the latter are more essential than the former! The idea that you are a more deserving citizen as a lawyer than a cleaner is pervasive, but should be discarded as an idea from a less civilized history of our nation. Not only that, but our nation – like any nation – will always and must always have citizens who aren’t able to work, through age, disability, sickness or responsibilities as carers. This mustn’t be seen as a consequence of some feebleness of spirit, but recognised as a basic fact of our humanity.

But more fundamentally than that, why should your job influence your entitlement to a dignified existence at all? Our government, as a democratically elected council of the populace – rather than merely arch patricians of our finances - should be defending and maintaining the right of every single citizen to a fair and dignified existence, irrespective of birth-right or job title. It is expensive to do so, but there is most certainly more than enough to go around. Our nation’s fabled wealth-creators will certainly need cajoling to loosen their grip, but their fists are filled with the capital that the real wealth-creators – the workers – have given over their lives to generating.

We are not a commodity, and in the search for the character of our nation we must give as strong a voice as we can to the idea that the demands of our humanity come before the health of our balance sheet. Compassion, dignity and respect can, and ought to be extended to every man, woman and child living on our shores.