[PEN-L:9392] The latest from Britain

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The Daily Telegraph				Monday 7 April 1997

'INSANE NOTION' NOT SUCH A BAD IDEA NOW

	By Robert Shrimsley, Chief Political Correspondent

"THE closest thing to legalised political corruption." This was how Tony Blair
described the British Telecom, Gas and British Airways privatisations in 1987.
Now the Labour leader is apparently ready to countenance that very vice.

Those comments are 10 years old, made when Mr Blair was trade and industry
spokesman. But only three years ago, two weeks before becoming Labour
leader, he described the Tory devotion to selling off state assets as "this insane
notion".

With all the most senior members of his party, he has voted against every
privatisation in the last 14 years. But things have moved on. Mr Blair has
already rid the party of the determination to renationalise the privatised utilities.

In a speech today he will say: "I believe that where there is no overriding reason
for preferring public provision of goods and services the presumption should be
that economic activity is best left to the private sector."

Last week's manifesto even shelved the plan to take the railways back into
public ownership - a shift made more remarkable when contrasted with the
Labour leader's conference speech last October when he said he was committed
to "restoring a unified system of railways with a publicly owned, publicly
accountable BR at its core".

But until the weekend, when the party found itself pinned down by the Tories
on the "£12 billion black hole" in its finances, the idea of actually embarking on
its own privatisations seemed a Thatcherite bridge too far. Strictly speaking, the
party's leaders have still not actually backed privatisations, they have simply
indicated a willingness to review the idea. The Rubicon of proposing their own
sell-off has still to be crossed.

Gordon Brown, the shadow chancellor, did raise the idea of selling the Tote,
but this was instantly quashed by Robin Cook, the shadow foreign secretary
and chairman of Labour's national policy forum.

Aside from that brief flutter, there was little evidence of any new-found
enthusiasm for privatisation. Yesterday Alistair Darling, Treasury spokesman,
said Labour had "for the last few years" made clear it was pragmatic and would
accept the private option if it worked best. "We have been saying that ever
since Tony Blair was elected leader," he added.

However, while Mr Blair has rewritten Clause 4, the traditional commitment to
nationalisation, the anti-privatisation rhetoric has continued. In February, Mr
Blair described Tory plans to sell off London Underground as "a poor deal for
the taxpayers [which] would offer no strategic control over a vital public asset".

Last Friday, Mr Brown raised the prospect of privatising the National Air
Traffic Control Service -- a sell-off already planned by the Tories.

But six months ago at the last Labour conference in Blackpool, Andrew Smith,
shadow transport secretary, railed against the very thought of such a sale. "The
Tories have dreamt up a crazy new scheme to privatise the air. They want to
flog off the NATCS. Let me warn the Transport Secretary Labour will do
everything to block this sell-off. Our air is not for sale."

Last week, Mr Brown said he would have to "look" at privatising the NATCS.
He said yesterday that he would look at all state-owned assets to see whether
they could be sold. Aides said this could even include Channel 4 or the Tote.

The party's arts manifesto published three weeks ago stated: "It seems
unimaginable that Government could ever consider privatising the channel and
jeopardising this resource. Labour will retain Channel 4 as a public service
broadcaster."

On the Tote, Robin Cook said in February: "There will be no proposal by
Labour to sell the Tote. There have been no discussions in the shadow cabinet
about the sale of the Tote."

Mr Cook was similarly abrasive about suggestions of selling off sections of the
Royal Mail. With attacks on the seeming contradictions raining in from Tory
ministers by yesterday afternoon, Labour aides were drawing back from talk of
sale of Channel 4 or the Tote.


The Daily Telegraph				Tuesday 8 April 1997

UNIONS WARN BLAIR OVER SELL-OFFS

	By George Jones, Political Editor

TONY Blair faced a backlash from the unions last night after saying that
Labour was ready to sell remaining state assets if it won the election.

Union leaders said they did not believe that it would happen. Kenneth Clarke,
the Chancellor, accused Mr Blair of "saying anything to get elected".

Although the unions have adopted a low profile during the campaign, Mr
Blair's conversion to privatisation - which Labour has opposed tooth and nail
since 1979 - proved too much for them. They made known their hostility to
state sell-offs after the Labour leader went to the City of London to make a
speech declaring that there was "no overriding reason" for preferring the public
provision of services.

Mr Blair said Labour was not in the business of "pressing the rewind button" to
reverse the economic reforms of the 1980s - and "what counts is what works".

Gordon Brown, the shadow chancellor, confirmed that a Labour government
was ready to consider privatising the National Air Traffic Service to meet
financial targets set by the Government. At last autumn's Labour conference,
Andrew Smith, transport spokesman, said Labour would do everything it could
to block privatisation of the service, declaring: "Our air is not for sale".
Yesterday Mr Brown said Labour would look at the sale "on its merits".

But the extent of Labour's conversion to privatisation was questioned by John
Monks, general secretary of the TUC, who is regarded as a leading supporter of
Mr Blair's modernisation. He told BBC Radio 4's World at One that while Mr
Blair was signalling that Labour was not opposed to privatisation, he did not
expect Labour to implement such a policy in power.

"I wouldn't expect a Labour government to go down the direction that the
Conservatives have been down - which is to clear out every potentially lucrative
bit of the public sector," he said.

Barry Reamsbottom, general secretary of the Civil and Public Servants'
Association, made clear his opposition to the privatisation of the National Air
Traffic Service in which his members work. He said he would be "extremely
surprised" if it happened under Labour - and he would warn against the danger
that safety could be compromised. No other country in Europe had privatised
its air traffic control services, added Mr Reamsbottom.

Margaret Beckett, Labour's trade and industry spokesman, also showed "old"
Labour's continuing hostility to privatisation. She described as a "fantasy
world" a suggested list of Government agencies that would be prime
candidates, including air traffic control, the Met Office, Companies House, the
Public Record Office and the Radio Communications Office.

Mrs Beckett claimed that Mr Blair's speech was not as "exciting" as was being
made out and emphasised that a case would have to be made out that any
further privatisations were in the public interest. She also hinted that the
Ministry of Defence could be forced to sell off its land to help balance the
books. Labour is committed to a defence review, and Mrs Beckett indicated
that the MoD could be a prime target for savings because "the whole climate of
defence has changed".

The prospect of Labour carrying out further privatisations was not mentioned in
the party's manifesto which was published last Thursday, although it confirmed
that Mr Blair had abandoned the commitment to take the railways back into
public ownership.

It emerged as a policy option after the Tories claimed that there was a "black
hole" in Labour's finances - because the present Government planned to raise
£1.5 billion from further privatisations next year, including the sale of the
Natiional Air Traffic Service, Parcelforce and several government agencies.

Mr Clarke called Labour a "collection of unprincipled scoundrels making up
policy as they go along. These people have spent their entire parliamentary lives
fighting privatisation in principle. Overnight, we are asked to believe the
Labour movement is now in favour."

The Tories last night sought to open a new front, claiming that socialist leaders
in the EU were already preparing for a Labour victory with plans to strengthen
the Social Chapter. If Labour wins, Mr Blair is to be invited to a special summit
in Maastricht to discuss his approach to efforts to draw up a new Treaty on
further European integration at Amsterdam in June.

David Davis, Foreign Office Minister, said: "Europe is preparing a tailor-made
sell-out summit for "new" Labour. It comes as no surprise that European
socialist leaders would rejoice at the prospect of a Labour victory."

Michael Heseltine, the deputy Prime Minister, claimed the Europeans saw Mr
Blair as the "best guarantee to protect jobs on the continent and destroy jobs in
Britain".