Capitalism Cannot be Reformed

From The Guardian

New figures showed the first rise in the number of children living in relative poverty in nearly 10 years.

Despite New Labour's key promise to halve the problem by 2010, today statistics revealed a 100,000 jump in the number of children living in relative poverty last year.
Official figures showed that 2.8 million children were living below the relative poverty line in 2005/06, with the figure rising to 3.8 million after housing costs were factored in. This represents an increase from 2.7 million and 3.6 million respectively on the previous year.

The chief executive of Barnados, Martin Narey, called it a "moral disgrace"

Colette Marshall, the UK director of Save the Children, added: "The child poverty target, supposedly one of the government's chief priorities, is now in serious jeopardy. If the government is genuinely committed to the target of halving child poverty by 2010 then urgent action and investment is needed, not just the piecemeal measures that have been announced so far."

What we said in June 1999 :- "Poverty is an inescapable part of capitalist society. It can be abolished, but only when there is a fundamental change in how we organise society. That is way beyond any policies or even concepts of the Labour Party."

What we said in April 2002 :- " Because it relies on the uncertainties of the market system and the use of money, the hope of any Labour government ending child poverty is impossible. Labour and Tory governments having been making the same promise for many years and they have all failed. "

To fight the same old welfare reform battles over several decades is demoralising enough, but when previous reforms are put into reverse the case against the system which puts profits before needs is stronger than ever.