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Title: Open season on scapegoats
Author: Anarchist Federation
Date: 1995
Language: en
Topics: scapegoating, Organise!
Source: Retrieved on May 13, 2013 from https://web.archive.org/web/20130513045153/http://www.afed.org.uk/org/issue40/open_season_on_scapegoats.html
Notes: Published in Organise! Issue 40: Special Issue on Work — Autumn 1995.

Anarchist Federation

Open season on scapegoats

World-wide as the crisis in capitalism deepens, handy scapegoats are

looked for. Nationalist and extreme right political currents, along with

religious fundamentalists are the instruments of this scapegoating and

division of the working class. Anti-Semitism, anti-gypsy and

anti-immigrant views are peddled, and physical attacks up to and

involving murder are carried out by extreme right groups. This climate

of fear has the added effect in Western Europe of strengthening the

walls of fortress Europe. In France this has been helped by the actions

of Algerian Islamic fundamentalists, allowing the State to increase its

measures of repression against not only the immigrant population, but

against the working class as a whole.

In Britain, the largest scapegoating involves legislation currently

going through Parliament, which would tell those working in education,

health and social security to act as grasses for the home office in

fingering illegal immigrants. This would mean that anyone suspected of

being an “alien” would have to produce a passport if they were applying

for a course in education or for medical treatment. Bans on claims for

Child Benefit and Family Credit would be imposed, to sit alongside those

already in operation for Income Support, Housing Benefit and Council Tax

benefit.

There would be training for social security workers to more readily spot

illegal immigrants. In reality this means that anyone who appears

non-white or has a “foreign” accent will be harassed.

Alongside these practical measures comes the ideological assault. Dr.

Tate, chief adviser on the school curriculum has called for a “British

cultural identity” and attacked “watered-down multiculturalism”. He

supported the need for “common culture” and “national identity” to be

pushed in education. Coupled with this were the allegations by Home

Secretary Michael Howard that illegal immigrants could be claiming £100

million a year in benefits.

These figures were plucked out of the air, with no concrete evidence to

support such an allegation. Social Security supremo Peter Lilley

announced a clampdown on income support claimants. He announced cuts of

£4 billion to rise to £14 billion with pension cuts. He then went on to

claim that 1 in 10 claims were or “could be” false claims, again another

figure out of the air. He targeted single parents, and said that £450

million was claimed by those allegedly single whilst living as couples.

Another nice little money-saver, is the plan by Education Minister

Gillian Shepherd to create extended work placements for 14 year olds,

which would mean 2 days a week would be spent by school students working

for nothing.