Tories Out – General election now – Eject the Blairites

Editorial statement from the latest issue of the Socialist - the paper of Socialist Party Scotland 

The crisis-ridden Tory government is on the ropes. They are bitterly divided by unrelenting conflict between the Tory Brexiteers and those who want to retain as many of the current neoliberal arrangements that come with EU membership as possible.

The Tory divisions are very likely to erupt into open civil war this autumn, as the terms of leaving the EU are thrashed out.

Theresa May hoped she had a workable agreement at the now infamous summit at Chequers in the summer. But it lasted only hours before David Davis and then Boris Johnson resigned from the cabinet.

The Financial Times, voicing the view of big business, made its view clear of the Chequers agreement in its editorial on 10 July that: “Mrs May has recognised the only pragmatic approach to decoupling from the EU is a softer version of Brexit. To avoid the reckless outcome of a no-deal outcome, the prime minister should stand firm.”

But pressure from the EU to soften further her proposals will, if she accedes to them, ignite open conflict in the Tories.

If May refuses to make further concessions towards a “soft Brexit” then a “no-deal” cleavage from the EU is possible.

Either scenario could see the government collapse and the pressure for a general election become irresistible.

If Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour leadership, alongside the trade union movement, launched a mass campaign to drive out the Tories and fought for the election of an anti-austerity, left government it would happen all the sooner. Yet what has been the response of Corbyn’s Blairite enemies in the Labour party?

Blairites

They have doubled down on the scandalous accusation of antisemitism, which is nothing more than a capitalist establishment battering ram to try to undermine and remove Corbyn as Labour leader.

Moreover, right wing Labour MPs like Chuka Umunna are openly plotting and preparing to split from Labour and launch a new party. No doubt aiming to link up with pro-EU MPs in the Lib Dems and the Tories.

If it ever happens, it would be another pro-privatisation, pro-billionaire party that would offer nothing for working class communities across Britain.

And here lies the root of the problem; Labour is still two bitterly divided parties in one. The Corbyn Labour party represents the hopes and desires of millions seeking an end to cuts and falling incomes.

The Blairites, on the other hand, are the agents of the capitalist 1%, seeking to stop at all costs Labour becoming a fully-fledged, anti-austerity party.

To resolve this conflict requires fighting for the kinds of measures the Socialist Party has been calling for since Corbyn’s election. Measures which are urgently necessary to transform Labour into a genuine workers’ party.

They include mandatory re-selection of MPs. With a snap election on the cards it is urgent that a genuine democratic say in which candidates represent Labour at elections is given to party members and trade unions. For the opening up of the Labour Party to all elements of the workers’ and socialist movement to participate in it on a federal basis.

For the reversal of all the anti-democratic measures introduced by Blair and the re-founding of the party along genuinely democratic, socialist lines – including the full restoration of the democratic rights of trade unions and party members in deciding party policy.

Scotland: Labour’s challenge

Scotland is a crucial battleground for Labour. It’s vital for the election of a Corbyn-led government that working class support is won back after the disastrous mistakes made during the 2014 independence referendum.

Yet there is no sign of the Richard Leonard leadership learning these lessons. Not only have they continued with a policy of seeking a coexistence with the Labour right, he has also refused to call on Labour councils to defy Tory austerity and stop implementing cuts.

Leonard continually falsely poses the question of Scottish self-determination as a binary option; “nationalism or socialism”. Asking workers and young people to choose be- tween the unity and solidarity of workers across Britain versus division.

This is a completely wrong way to pose the question. In reality, many workers and young people who back Scottish independence are to the left of not just the SNP but also the Scottish Labour leadership. They see independence as a possible escape route from austerity and capitalist oppression.

As poll after poll has demonstrated, this attraction is bound up alongside mass support for public ownership, wealth redistribution, a living wage and an end to cuts.

Rather than turn Labour’s face against even the possibility of a second independence referendum, the Labour left should make clear that they will always support self-determination for Scotland. This must include allowing for a second indyref, when and if that becomes the majority view of the Scottish people.

Labour could stand for the unity of the working class across Scotland, England, Wales and Ireland through a voluntary socialist confederation, while supporting self-determination.

Denying the right of the Scottish people their democratic right to decide can only aid the pro-capitalist leaders of theSNP.

Moreover, this is at a time when Nicola Sturgeon et al are increasingly being exposed as slavishly pro-business. Illustrated by their craven backing for the bosses’ EU single market and customs union, as well as the recent pro-austerity Growth Commission report.

SNP councillors and MSPs are continually voting through Tory cuts at Holyrood and in local councils they control.

Indeed recent opinion polls show that Labour’s support in Scotland is flat-lining, falling even behind the Scottish Tories, as the consequences of their mistakes on the national question and how to fight the cuts are exposed.

While Labour support across Britain currently stands at 40%, in Scotland it has dropped as low as 25%. The mistakes by the Labour leadership must be rectified, especially on their approach to Scottish self-determination, and urgently, in order to allow Labour to re-build its support in .

Mass struggle needed

So weak are the Tories that the building of a significant wave of mass struggle by the trade unions could finish them off. Workers’ pay is still falling way behind the cost of living.

Unending cuts are biting at the bones of the NHS, council and public services.

The levels of stress caused by increasing workload and under-staffing is rife.

If the trade union movement coordinated widespread strike action on these and many other issues in a sustained campaign of struggle, May would be history. In addition, such a movement would give Jeremy Corbyn a massive boost towards a general election victory.

We need mass struggle against the Tories and the Blairites, for a government that can implement Jeremy Corbyn’s 2017 manifesto, and more including:

• Jobs on proper contracts
• Pay rises and a £10-an-hour minimum wage
• Full free education
• Stop universal credit
• Save the NHS from cuts and privatisation
• The scrapping of the Trident weapon system
• Massive investment in renewable energy to help tackle the climate change crisis.
• Renationalise rail, postal services and energy.
• Take the banks and big companies into democratic public ownership so that the enormous wealth in society can be used for the benefit of all.
• A socialist, internationalist, anti-racist Brexit in the interest of all workers.

We demand a general election now!