In days gone by it was a popular cry for mediums when attempting to conjure the spirits of the deceased to ask: ‘is there anybody there?’ (for older readers think Margaret Rutherford in Blythe Spirit). The same phrase seems to have found its way into the lexicon of the state in recent weeks as it attempts to mop up the strays and slackers who have failed to return their census forms. An army of civil servants have been annoying people around the UK who have forgotten to fill in their forms.
As anarcho-syndicalists we are often placed in highly contradictory positions with regard to the state as the current anti-cuts campaign illustrates. We support public services but not in the manner in which they have been delivered under the welfare state. But to make such criticisms, in a time when said services are under attack by a Government eager to open them up to businesses to profit from, leaves us open to the charge of being anti-public services.