Build a new party for the working class

Editorial from the June/July edition of the Socialist – the paper of Socialist Party Scotland

Never has there been such a chasm between the interests of working-class people, whose lives are being devastated by a capitalist-driven cost of living crisis, and the political parties who are supposed to speak for us.

The Tories are the Tories. They were set up to represent the capitalist elite and big business. At one time they were the most successful capitalist party in the world. They can count their time in power not in years but decades. But that has all now come to a crashing end.

Three prime minister in six weeks in 2022. One of them, Boris Johnson, is now no longer even a Tory MP. He was forced to resign after the extent of his partying during lockdown became too much for even the majority of his own parliamentary party.

Facing a suspension from the Commons and a recall petition, he has gone. But not without taking pot shots at Sunak and the Tory leadership. Johnson wants to weaken Sunak as much as possible. There are now going to be three parliamentary by-elections after Johnson and two of his supporters resigned, and all three could see the Tories lose.

These divisions represent a significant disintegration of the Tory Party. And a general election, whenever it takes place, could see a devastating defeat. Nigel Farage is already claiming he is in ‘talks’ with Johnson. No doubt Johnson prefers to dream of a future comeback as Tory leader than bother with the ‘small fry’ of the Reform Party or its ilk.

Whatever happens there will still many right-populists inside the parliamentary Tory Party after the general election. Clearly Sunak intends the general election to take place on or probably after the May 2024 local elections. Despite his intentions, however, it is not impossible that coming events could force him to go earlier.

It is this reality that will motivate the majority to vote the Tories out of office at the next election, rather than the mantra of ‘fiscal responsibility’ (in reality doing the bidding of the finance markets) being spouted by the latest incarnation of New Labour.

While most of those who vote Labour will be doing so without any enthusiasm, it is a different story for the capitalist elite. The majority of them are now firmly of the view that Starmer’s New Labour will be better able to defend the interests of British capitalism than their historic party, the Tories.

economic crisis

At root the Tories growing disintegration is as a result of the deep and growing crisis of ailing British capitalism. The result is misery for the big majority of the population and growing hatred of this government.

Spending on consumer-facing services is currently 10% below pre-pandemic levels, reflecting a brutal fall in living standards. The Office for Budget Responsibility is now predicting that real household income per head will still be below pre-pandemic levels in 2027-28.

But who will replace the Tories if they suffer an expected election defeat? Keir Starmer’s Labour Party has strangled the life out of the remaining vestiges of Corbynism and the left. Corbyn is not even allowed to stand for Labour, so safe has the party become for the interests of big business.

The bosses’ newspaper, the Financial Times, recently ran a three part series of articles praising Starmer’s Labour and emphasising how thoroughly he had “consolidated control by sidelining the hard left and taking over party machinery”.

The final part of the trilogy, however, warned that, unlike Blair in 1997, Starmer would face “a mess” of “high-debt, disappointing growth and struggling public services”. Clearly the Financial Times trusts Starmer to act in the interests of their class when dealing with this mess.

Conversely we can be confident he will not act in the interests of our class: the working class majority. The capitalist class have found a way out of their crisis of political representation created by the meltdown of their traditional party by turning to Starmer’s New Labour, with its left wing driven out.

That leaves the working class with no political voice and it is urgent that begins to change.

SNP

The SNP’s own crisis is, as we have explained, rooted in its pro-capitalist policies which they have implemented consistently since winning the 2007 Holyrood election. That has meant carrying out austerity passed onto it by Westminster.

It has also seen the Scottish government, now a coalition between the SNP and the Scottish Greens, increasingly clashing with trade unionists fighting for decent pay rises amidst a cost of living crisis.

Its true that the perception of the SNP as an anti-establishment and anti-austerity force was bolstered following the 2014 indyref. But that view of the SNP has changed dramatically over the past decade and its anti-working class policies.

The SNP leadership’s failure to overcome the resistance of the capitalist class to Scottish independence was a key factor in Sturgeon’s resignation. She had come to the end of the road and could see no way to overcome the refusal to allow a second indyref by Westminster.

The only viable option, of course, was to build mass movement of the working class rather than appeals to the Tories or Starmer to abide by “democracy”. Such a mass mobilisation was something both Sturgeon and the leadership of the SNP are terrified off.

Falling support for the SNP in the wake of their crisis has allowed for the possibility of a Labour recovery in Scotland. But Labour in Scotland are dominated by the neo-Blairites and will offer no real alternative for trade unionists or young people seeking a way out of the nightmare of worsening living standards.

It’s no surprise that support for Scottish independence has remained undiminished among the working class. And that can mitigate against a collapse in the SNP vote.

However, the deepening divisions in the SNP will not disappear. And there is clearly a faction around Kate Forbes that will be a constant thorn in the flesh of Humza Yousaf.

The crisis in the SNP and Labour’s dramatic lurch to the capitalist right underlines the urgent need to build a new party for the working-class majority in Scotland and throughout Britain.

new party

What is needed is for the working class to build its own party, with a socialist programme that fights in defence of the whole of the working class.

Just four years ago, in 2019, the capitalist elite united behind Johnson – putting aside their doubts about him – in order to defeat Jeremy Corbyn and his anti-austerity programme.

Four years on and both Corbyn and Johnson are out of their parliamentary parties. That leaves the working class with no political voice and it is urgent that begins to change.

It’s clear that the trade unions have a central role to play in building a new party. Their authority has been enormously strengthened by the strike wave. The explosive growth of Enough is Enough – with Mick Lynch of the RMT and Dave Ward of the CWU in its leadership was a reflection of the vacuum for a new party. But that possibility was not capitalised on.

Even if one or two trade unions were to take the road of calling a conference to discuss building a new party, that would be a big step forward. As it is, with a general election likely in the next 12 to 18 months, the need for a socialist and workers’ election challenge has never been greater.

A workers’ list in the general election, with candidates from across the trade unions that have been involved in strike action, would be an important first step to prepare for what is to come.

That’s also why Socialist Party Scotland is supporting the Scottish Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition in standing in the likely by-election in Rutherglen and Hamilton West.

The working class need a party of its own. We urge all those who agree to work with us to achieve that goal, as a step towards fighting for the socialist future we so desperately need.