unity!
Communist Party
@CPBritain
communist-party.org.uk
10-11 JUNE 2017
ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF TRADES UNION COUNCILS, SUNDERLAND
A maturity of our working class worth celebrating O
ver a century ago, Frederick Engels wrote that “universal suffrage is the gauge of the maturity of the working class.” In a capitalist parliamentary democracy such as ours, he said, “wealth exercises its power indirectly, but all the more surely” than under a dictatorship. Thus, we should not be too disappointed at the outcome of the election. The ruling class pulled out all the stops to block Labour, even though it couldn’t secure an overall Tory victory. And indeed we can celebrate not just the Labour gains, but a significant advance in the maturity of our working class. After over 30 years of retreats, when “class” almost became a dirty word, millions of working people have voted to support a programme which put it back at the centre of the agenda – For the many, not the few. It has been a stunning campaign by Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party. With the exception of Blair’s 1997 landslide, this is the best Labour performance in percentage terms (40.1) since 1970 and in total votes since 1966. When May called the election, Labour was suffering from the long years of taking its core supporters for granted – particularly in Scotland – and from the damage still being inflicted by Corbyn’s opponents in the Parliamentary Party, particularly over the charge of Labour being “unelectable”. And then look at what actually happened. Corbyn’s campaign broke new ground in several respects – a rock concert appearance, and 6 simultaneous rallies by video link, for chrissakes! Hundreds and thousands of people turned out wherever Jeremy went.
Tens of thousands of door-step campaigners, phone bankers and social media activists were mobilised to fight Labour’s cause. Massive enthusiasm was unleashed. How did this happen? Corbyn’s drive, leadership, integrity, honesty, politeness, approachability, and ability to articulate the issues concerning people – in short, his charisma – have been a major factor. But it was also the policies: Labour’s manifesto offered a vision of community, public service and collectivism – a message of hope in response to austerity, privatisation, and ‘same old, same old’. Labour’s campaign turned politics into something real for people, something that they could identify with and participate in – not just a game played by the Westminster elite. And millions of people were mobilised to vote for a programme which, while not socialist, represented the first small steps towards rolling back the dictatorship of monopoly and finance capital. It’s no wonder that, throughout the campaign, Jeremy Corbyn, Diane Abbott and other leading Labour figures were subjected to lies, distortions, innuendo and outright vitriol in most of the capitalist press. The big business owners of those papers knew what was at stake – the rich pickings that they and their ruling class friends have enjoyed for close on 40 years. Likewise the BBC and ITV, whose senior executives are linked to the same background, did their utmost to minimise positive reporting on Labour’s campaign, and to sow doubt about Corbyn and Labour policies. But the sheer scale of Labour’s campaign, together with Corbyn’s sure-
footedness and the obligation of the TV media at least to appear impartial during the election, meant that the truth began to force its way through in places, and many people – albeit not enough – could see through the lies to understand what was going on. So the Tories are still the largest party, but are unable to implement their programme unless they do a deal with the DUP – and even then, they will only have the slenderest of majori-
ties. May hasn’t managed to isolate the ‘hard Brexiteers’ in her own party, and her ability to negotiate with the EU – let alone get a Brexit deal/’no deal’ through Parliament – is severely compromised. The Tories will now face not just an opposition in Parliament, but a massive movement outside it. The vision of a better future is not going to die. The trade union movement, the People’s Assembly and other progressive forces
need to harness the energy and enthusiasm of Labour’s supporters to ensure that the movement which has been created carries over into mass extraparliamentary struggle. Three things are for sure. First, there will be no immediate calls for Jeremy Corbyn to resign. Second, the ruling class will exert massive pressure to maintain its position. But third, the issue of class is now firmly back on the political agenda.
The struggle for Britain’s future will continue – and rapidly escalate Article written 6 June 2017
W
hatever the general election result - unknown at the time of writing this article – the struggle for Britain’s future will continue, and rapidly escalate. It’s not just a matter of ‘left’ against ‘right’, or fundamentally a parliamentary question – vitally important as the election is. It is, as Francis O’Grady has called it, a class war. Are we, our class, our unions and, specifically for us, our trades union councils ready to lead that struggle? Have we a strategy for winning? What do we even mean by winning? A few things from the general election campaign Firstly, despite (as The Red Flag says) a very large number of cowards flinching and traitors sneering within the Parliamentary Labour Party, the leadership’s strong manifesto, massively supported by the membership, kept the red flag flying. In direct contradiction to Blairite assertions that left, working class politics make Labour unelectable, Corbyn’s manifesto met with great, growing and enthusiastic support, regaining huge ground from the Tory lead generated by lies, slanders and vitriol about him personally, and socialism generally.
Big news … socialist policies, properly presented, are supported by working class people! Secondly, as we all know, real postelection state power is retained by the same bankers and big business billionaires as held it before, though a Labour victory damages them and gives us opportunity to make progress. Tories in office exercise power on behalf of that monopoly capitalist class. Labour in office on a left programme will always be subject to hate, destabilisation and disruption by that class. They will use everything they’ve got to attack such a government - and us, the working class. There would be no postelection honeymoon period. Should the Tories be back in office, ‘austerity capitalism’ will be confirmed, and they will aim to rev up their drive to privatise public services, remove trade union rights and working conditions still further, scrap remaining collective bargaining and agreements, increase the rate of exploitation of workers, and encourage the growth of the wealth gap and poverty. As we resist, their drive to stop us will be based on ‘divide and rule’ – particularly through the super-exploitation of migrants – and on the removal of civil liberties and rights to organise.
We shall need to step up all forms of struggle, and ensure that the organised working class REALLY takes the lead in that struggle in practical ways, not just in conference motions! As Andrew Murray of Unite said at the first People’s Assembly Conference, referring to widespread and growing austerity, “If the government insists on governing the country in this way, we need to make the country ungovernable.” Do we agree? How will we do it? Should Labour be in office, generating working class confidence and organisation and putting the monopolists on the back foot, there’s no doubt that the ruling class will organise to force the new government to retreat, and, if they won’t, to force it from office – just as they do throughout the world. The institutions of capitalism, the City, finance capital, the EU, the IMF etc will attempt to enforce ‘austerity capitalism’ regardless of a left government, just as they have in Greece. They will attempt to impose their effective rule, and make the country ungovernable by a left government, and they will have no scruples or selfdoubt about it. How will we step up
the struggle to defend a new Labour Government’s progressive policies? More big news – the class struggle will continue and escalate whatever the election result. We must be ready to lead it in every corner of Britain, doing our job of linking the trades unions and community at local level, and, together with our People’s Assembly partners, co-ordinate and build the struggle against the bankers and big business – against monopoly finance capitalism. This time last year we voted unanimously for a motion that said: “Conference 2016 calls on all to redouble our efforts to build a single, unified, powerful antiausterity movement that can both challenge the Tory Government and its capitalist class masters, and at the same time discourage and defeat those within the Labour Party who would wish to turn the clock back and undermine the current Labour leadership. Conference believes we need in the coming year to build a positive anti-monopoly alliance including political parties, trades unions,
the People’s Assembly and others, organised around a coherent alternattive economic and political strategy to meet the needs of the people. Such a broad democratic mass movement with strong positive policies is the only context in which we can expect to see the next general election produce a left government on the basis of a people’s manifesto.” We have made a very good start – but this is very much a work in progress. We should not forget what we have already agreed to do simply because we have a new set of motions at this conference. We need now to put flesh on the bones – and ask out TUCJCC reps to get on with the job of leading all our trades union councils in the development of real, practical , active anti-monopoly alliances and actions in our local communities and throughout Britain – a movement capable of building and successfully defending a left-led government. Moz Greenshields Secretary, Derby Area Trades Union Council, and TUCJCC East Midlands Rep