This general election is going
to mark a fundamental turning-point in Britain. It will have colossal
ramifications internationally.
The political ground has begun
to shift as a result of Corbyn taking Labour’s election campaign out into the
country, raising the class issues and attacking capitalism.
A recent YouGov survey
for The Sunday Times found that Labour gained six points within a
matter of days into the campaign, slashing the Tory lead. The Liberal Democrats
slipped three points, demonstrating the sharp polarisation that is taking
place. And this is just the beginning.
It is clear that people are
beginning to see the election contest as one between Boris Johnson, the
Eton-educated multi-millionaire, and Jeremy Corbyn, who stands for a radical
left-wing programme.
The people vs the billionaires
Labour has hit the ground
running, correctly denouncing Johnson’s hidden plans to hand the NHS over to
the clutches of American pharmaceutical corporations.
Corbyn has highlighted the
staggering wealth of the super rich, with the top 10 percent of people owning
44 percent of the wealth. The giant corporations are getting away with murder,
with the likes of Amazon paying only £220m tax on £10.9bn profits last year.
At Labour’s campaign launch
meeting, Corbyn attacked the billionaires and promised that a Labour government
would go after the wealthy elite who exploit a “rigged system” to amass their
fortunes.
This has a big impact. Britain
has around 150 billionaires – 0.0002 percent of the population – who flaunt
their wealth and ill-gotten gains. Meanwhile, 14 million people live in
poverty.
These billionaires have
amassed their wealth and power by waging a relentless class war against working
people.
We have the example of Jim
Ratcliffe, Britain’s third-richest man, who is worth £18bn as head of Ineos –
the petrochemicals group that employs 17,000 people. He has slashed the wages
of his workforce, cut holidays, and driven down conditions to boost his
profits.
Or take Mike Ashley, the owner
of the Sports Direct empire, which employs almost 30,000 people. Ashley’s
employees are subjected to Victorian conditions in his warehouses, all to boost
his obscene wealth.
Even if they didn’t spend a
penny of their wages, it would take the average British worker more than 40,000
years to become a billionaire. This period is equivalent to the entire
existence of Homo sapiens in Britain.
Boris Johnson has tried to
frame this election as “Parliament vs People”. But Labour has correctly
responded by posing it as a contest of the “people vs the billionaire elite”.
The spectre of Blairism
A sneering Tony Blair recently
lamented the demise of the “middle ground”, arguing for “tactical voting” (i.e.
not voting Labour). He shows his true Tory colours when he says “Parliament
would be worse without the Conservative independents”.
Blair goes on to say that
Labour’s attack on poor old “dodgy landlords”, “billionaires” and a “corrupt
system” is “textbook populism”. This snake in the grass then continues, saying
that: “It is no more acceptable in the mouth of someone who calls themselves
leftwing than in the mouth of Donald Trump’s right.”
This is rich coming from the
mouth of a multi-millionaire, warmonger, and poodle of US imperialism.
It is only with radical
policies – aimed against what Blair cynically describes as the “pantomime
villains of capitalism” – that Labour can win the election.
Tory campaign stalls
Ironically, this has been made
easier by the decision of Nigel Farage and the Brexit Party to fight all the
seats in this election. This will take more votes away from the Tories than
Labour, handing victory to Labour in many seats. In fact, Labour estimates that
it could gain an extra 40 seats as a result. This has provoked panic in the
Johnson camp.
With the Brexit Party entering
the fray, the road to Number 10 is narrowing by the hour for Boris Johnson.
Furthermore, after ten years of Tory austerity, people are very wary of voting
Conservative, despite Johnson’s bluff and bluster.
This will certainly cut across
Tory hopes of winning Labour seats in the North, Midlands and Wales. No matter
how much they promise to increase spending, it all sounds rather hollow after
years of Tory cuts.
Tory strategists can see that
their tactic of running a “parliament versus people” campaign has already
largely flopped. “Getting Brexit done” is also wearing thin as a slogan.
For these reasons, Johnson
could end up having the most short-lived tenure of Downing Street in history.
Preparing for power
We can envisage a repeat of
the 2017 election. At this point two years ago, Labour was 24 points behind the
Tories. But by polling day Labour had gained 30 seats, almost gaining the keys
to Number 10.
Labour is starting from a much
better position this time round. Hundreds of thousands of people – particularly
young people – have registered to vote. Corbyn is likely once again to
overwhelmingly win the youth vote.
Given all this, Corbyn could
easily be propelled into power. Even if Labour does not win an outright
majority, it could still be the biggest party in Parliament. The SNP, who are
likely to take a big majority of seats in Scotland, would support a Labour
government from the outside. And Swinson, who hates Corbyn, will nevertheless
have great difficulty in supporting a Johnson Tory government. Corbyn would
therefore still become prime minister.
Of course, Labour could gain
enough seats to not have to rely on the support of other parties. That would be
the best option. Whatever the outcome, Labour must not enter into any
coalitions or pacts. Instead, it should stand by its promises, challenging the
other parties to vote against the radical and popular demands on offer.
We can’t take things for
granted. There are weeks to go before the polls close. The political situation
is very volatile. We must still mobilise and fight for every vote.
Big business sabotage
A Corbyn Labour government
will be faced by many obstacles – including from the Fifth Column of Blairites
in the Parliamentary Labour Party. These Tories in disguise will attempt to
sabotage all attempts to carry out radical policies.
In the words of Tony Blair:
“There is a core of good Labour MPs who will not be whipped into supporting policy
they do not believe in.” They will act as the reliable representatives of big
business. When the time comes, they will stab Corbyn in the back.
The bosses and bankers will
also attempt to undermine the government in every way they can. They not only fear
Corbyn, but also the millions of workers behind him, desperate for real change.
They fear that a Labour government will be pushed even further than it intends.
And they are right.
“I want you to know,” stated
John McDonnell to Labour conference last year, “that the greater the mess we
inherit, the more radical we have to be.”
Well, Britain has been ravaged
by a decade of capitalist crisis and Tory austerity. No amount of tinkering is
going to turn this around. Only a bold programme of socialist policies can
offer a way out of this great mess.
For a socialist Labour
government!
Furthermore, the whole world
economy – including Britain – is facing a new slump. Mervyn King, the former
head of the Bank of England, when addressing a recent meeting of the IMF,
stated that we are “sleepwalking with our eyes closed into another crisis”.
King warned that we are facing
a new “financial Armageddon”. And he should know – after all, he was at the
helm when the bankers “sleepwalked” into the 2008 crash.
Such a catastrophe can only be
solved by clear socialist measures. Labour will need to take control of the
economy out of the hands of the billionaires. This means taking over the
commanding heights of the economy, the banks, finance houses, the land, and
giant monopolies, all under workers’ control and management.
A Corbyn government will have
to mobilise the working class in response to the sabotage of big business, in
order to carry through the socialist transformation of society. That is the
only answer to the crisis of capitalism.
Only in this way can Labour
carry through its programme and radically transform the lives of the majority
in Britain. This is what we must fight for.
