United Kingdom: It is essential to end bipartisanship
Writes: Julio Santana – LIS, United Kingdom
After the Middle Ages funeral for Queen Elizabeth, The worsening of living conditions and strikes once again occupy the political forefront. The Conservative Party and the Labor Party dispute within the framework of a shared turn to the right within the limits of the regime and the capitalist system. Breaking with the bipartisanship and the crown is an essential step, such as the regrouping of the revolutionaries and the construction of a left front.
A week of dizzying news
The Conservative Party conference was interrupted by Greenpeace activists with signs that had written: “we have not voted on this!”. And the certainty that the economic course adopted by Liz Truss and Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng was immovable was shattered.. It happened last Monday, when they gave up lowering taxes by an amount of 45.000 million pounds that would especially benefit the 1% richest of the population. To give an example: who will win 150.000 pounds a year would receive a cut 1.800 pounds. For those who earn less, the cut would be 7 pounds. Let's imagine how much this plan meant for those who earn millions, especially large energy companies, finance and real estate.
It was no coincidence that the day after announcing the measures, Chancellor Kwarteng met to celebrate with big businessmen.“The chancellor is said to have told those attending the reception about the budget cuts, the style of austerity that would come. The guests drank wine, champagne and cocktails and congratulated him on the measures announced in the House of Commons, according to the Sunday Times.” (The Guardian 02 /10/ 2022)
Giro a “U”
The picture was so blatant and insulting that even some conservative deputies had announced that they would vote against it.. Many specialists maintain that“the tax rate U-turn came too late to stop the economic shock that sank the value of the pound. Mortgage rates have already increased, as a result of the overconfidence of Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng“(Sky News 04/10/2022). Aone month after the inauguration of the reactionary Prime Minister Liz Truss the first serious crisis has already broken out that sank the pound, raised doubts about the electoral support for theTory and gave hope to the Labor Party.
We must not be fooled
The conservatives who wear 12 years ruling for the rich, They will find another way to line their pockets at the expense of working people. In fact, They have already moved forward by annulling the law that prohibited fracking. further, They will redouble oil exploitation in the North Sea. They will create more special areas for the installation of companies, eliminating taxes and labor rights, in the style of Chinese special zones or Mexican maquilas. They will try to advance with privatizations and the elimination of the right to strike.
You are not alone in this plan
Meanwhile, The Labor Party held its congress in Liverpool. If any militant expected measures different from the usual ones, made a mistake. The Labor Party, founded by unions in the year 1900, Today it is in the hands of Sir Keir Starmer, who replaced Jeremy Corbyn in the leadership. He is a lawyer specialized in human rights, who was an advisor to the Queen and accepted the medieval “distinction” of“Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath”. As a defender of the regime, he has already declared that he does not intend to advance in the measures that the bases demand: nationalize electrical companies, support the strikes, promote a social housing plan to end the business of large real estate companies, strengthen the NHS (National Health Service) eliminating all attempts at privatization, bring the minimum wage to 15 pounds per hour so that large and small employers do not take advantage of minors 25 years and more.
Sir Keir reneges on his promises
The Gentleman told BBC Radio 4 what, at this time, due to Covid and massive debt, the Labor Party needed to be “transparent” about what they would and could not do in government. When asked if that meant that 10 leadership promises were no longer part of his manifesto, answered affirmatively, citing again the change in the country's financial and debt situation. Columnist Craig Purshouse, writing for Compact magazine he criticized Sir Keir's slogan, which replaced Corbyn's«For many, not for few"by"Security, prosperity, I respect", which the columnist described as"completely empty".
A monarchical congress
The Labor Party congress held in Liverpool will be remembered as a monarchical congress since, for the first time in its history, “God Save the King” was sung there, with a gigantic photograph of the late Queen presiding over the event. Showing off his servility, Sir Keir stated: "As we enter a new era, Let us commit to honoring the memory of the late Queen. Let's raise our necks and face the storm, "Let us keep alive the spirit of public service that she embodied and let it lead us toward a better future.".
A “Good Knight”… for the rich and corrupt crown
We do not know if the storm and public service include the “small” problems that the beloved queen solved with 15 millions of dollars to prevent his son, suspected of pedophilia, accountable before the courts of the United States. Or if it refers to the enormous number of laws that the crown (It is no coincidence that the family calls itself “The Company”) has been reviewed before they are voted on in the Scottish Parliament or Westminster.“Investigation by The Guardian has identified 67 cases in which the Queen has examined Scottish bills over the past two decades. They include legislation dealing with planning laws, property taxes, tenant protections and aprojectof law of 2018 which prevents forestry inspectors from entering crown land, including Balmoral, without the Queen's permission."The Guardian (28/07/2022).
According to the procedure, The monarch and her eldest son receive copies of the bills in advance, so that they can examine whether the legislation affects their public powers or private assets, such as his property of the Duchy of Cornwall or the private property of Sandringham. The guardian (28/06/2022). With Elizabeth II or Charles III the British crown will continue to be corrupt, rica, colonialist and enemy of the struggles of the working class.
The regime and the trap of bipartisanship
What we are clear about is that the bipartisanship on which the regime is based has already been working so that this bourgeois Labor Party is the one to replace the conservatives in the next elections.. Let's wait to hear the “Knight of the Bathroom” cynically say that the inheritance received from the conservatives is very heavy, that the people must be patient for the economy to grow (By the way, the same thing conservatives say today.) and there will be a spill of money, but we must produce more and at the lowest possible wage price.
Nuances in labor
Shortly after Sir Keir Starmer banned it (memory of the order-command of the Stalinists) 674 Councilors of the Labor Party spoke with a document that, among other things, raises: the “obscene” situation in which millions of people in Britain were struggling to make ends meet and workers were told a«tsunami of lies»to keep them in place, while there were more billionaires than ever, and profits and dividend payments at Britain's biggest companies soared. Councilors said the unions' actions were a"welcome and important rejection of this sad absurdity". "We urge all ordinary workers to take control of their destinies and join a union today". The Guardian (28/08/2022). La campaña “Enough is Enough! He also called for a national day of action on October 1.
From criticism to breakup, a necessary step
From these differentiated positions of the 674 councilors, that coincide with a critical base sector of the Labor leadership; we know that, equally, There are still those who place expectations on the Labor Party not to betray the struggles and raise progressive positions. We will be honest: We cannot wait for a change of government to reverse the conservative disasters. The Labor leadership has already eliminated part of the anti-poverty program, hiding behind Covid and the economic situation. Then, The excuses of “the inheritance received” will come and they will try to make the working people pay for the crisis.. It is necessary to move forward, and not only at the union level, strengthening labor organizations, but also in the political field.
For a left front
The parliamentary monarchical regime is weakened, Traditional parties generate more and more distrust and the capitalist system worsens living conditions. That is why the working class isstaging strikes that push towards the general strike and that have begun to synchronize with the actions of struggle and rebellions that break out in different regions of the world. A great opportunity has opened for the recovery of the fighting and organizational capacity of the working class, for the break with the parties of the British two-party system, the regrouping of the revolutionaries and the call to form a left front. Ordinary workers must take control of our destinies starting today by building a new alternative with a program of transitional demands that provides answers to the current situation., so that the capitalists pay for the crisis and postulate a fundamental solution for a workers' government and the socialist revolution.
