Journalists live in a strange world where party leaders take all the
decisions. The policy of women-only carriages - adopted on British railways
in the 1950s -is not an invention of Jeremy Corbyn nor would it
necessarily become policy if he were elected. By the same logic the
Daily Mail insisted a Corbyn government would have us all eating cold
baked beans. Probably not!
In other news, Andy Burnham was put on the spot about whether Labour was ready for a female Labour leader. A female socialist would make an excellent leader. A Margaret Thatcher clone probably less so. Liz Kendall was on the BBC rubbishing the trade unions and lauding free schools.
I did not have a vote in this election - being one of the reds under Harriet Harman's bed apparently - but it is a significant development in British politics as Rodney K Kreizman explains here
Wednesday, August 26, 2015
Tuesday, August 25, 2015
Optimism/-Hope-Scorn /Derision……Possibilities abound. Let’s recognise them!
I received this from Rodney K Kreizman:
After 40 years approx. (Thatcher 1979) of reactionary Government’s, abandonments of opposition in the form of New labours conversion to the Free market and the removal of Clause4…swings, ever further to the right, widespread Free Market madness, privatisations, that all but made the UK a mirror image of the USA where they emulated the politics of attacks on the working classes, in the name of free Markets, and consumer choices.
We have now reached a plateau of huge inequalities, widespread poverty even for those in work, very tiny actual trade union sector covering about a quarter of the workforce but predominantly in the Public Sector, indebtedness as a fact of life, non-existent Pension jobs sector, where only Teachers and MPs and Civil Servants have pensions, the poverty of the British worker is apparent all over Europe except to the British Workers, who see themselves as carrying the rest of Europe, a myth perpetuated by UKIP, and the right wing of the Tory Party.
We are really unable to live and work to bring our families up in a decent standard which in general take at least 2 decent salaries to do.
We work longer hours that all the rest of the countries in Old EC Europe. Long hour’s equals ever greater exploitation of ones labours. Also, it a moral obligation, to put the huge hours in to get a medium to reasonable living out of the job. Amongst this mayhem the leadership battle in the Labour Party explodes into a one sided landslide for a hard left candidate, who really didn’t want the job of Leader at all? Around 400 thousand predominantly young people, sign up to join the Labour Party to become Labour and join, Jeremy Corbyn’s campaign for the leadership, and the heart and soul of the Labour Party.
They are totally out of step with the ruling elites, that want any of the other three candidates, but certainly not Corbyn’s Socialist vision, however, it’s the” Socialist vision” that gives hope and optimism to the millions out there. Hence the paradox. We have to state quite unreservedly that this re-emergence of new forces to the Left has strengthened the Left generally as it has given us a boost of new fresh young forces that all movement needs to sustain a future development. When we cease to be able to enthuse and give hope to the youth we are failing in our basic tasks to re-generate ourselves and our political philosophy. So what is the Corbyn version? Well it seems more Keynesian, Aggregate Demand management, than really Socialist. Although its lots more return to the Public Sector, Rail, Transport, Utilities, Power, abandonment of £100 Billion Trident Nuclear Deterrent, but the public sector deal is done, with additional Industrial Democracy, which is the real winner for me.!
So a major return to a sort of Post War UK that we had under the Atlee 1945 Gov’t. The difference between then and now is that in the main the ownership of the companies we Nationalised were British owned or majority shareholding was based in the UK.. Now our Water is owned by both French and German Utilities and USA utilities, so the ownership of the Cartels and Companies being taken into public ownership, is now much more widespread in their shareholding.
What then should responsible Socialists be doing to aid and abet this process, and how do we relate to it ? Not with scorn and derision, and I’ve seen it all before, not with irresponsible paternalism, at their fumbling for the correct terms and words to express their anger and outrage at the naked exploitation that goes on all around them all day and all night long, not by laughing at them or being indulgent, or by just ignoring what’s happening. We have a responsibility to lead by example. We have a duty to recognise the possibilities that exist now, and help to turn todays “Corbynite idealists” into tomorrows “ Class struggle materialists and fighters for Socialism “ in the future ! That’s our job and that’s our role. Not scorn and derision ! That’s the real tasks for real Marxists and real Socialists of whatever variety ! We have to lead by example. We have to show we can work in coalitions, we can work together to defeat the Tory forces of reaction, and we can, and must work together, towards common desired objectives!
We work on Anti Austerity Campaigns (Wage Freezes) we work on smashing austerity for the poor, and super profits for the rich. We work on re-establishing Public Ownership of Transport Rail. Utilities, Power, we organise and lead struggles against Markets in Housing, Education, Health, other necessary parts of our needs in the UK.
It’s the taking part of real time real life struggles that show where the balance of forces is, and how we can organise to beat them, and build both a new party and a movement, that can lead the way for these ….and other future struggles in the UK.
After 40 years approx. (Thatcher 1979) of reactionary Government’s, abandonments of opposition in the form of New labours conversion to the Free market and the removal of Clause4…swings, ever further to the right, widespread Free Market madness, privatisations, that all but made the UK a mirror image of the USA where they emulated the politics of attacks on the working classes, in the name of free Markets, and consumer choices.
We have now reached a plateau of huge inequalities, widespread poverty even for those in work, very tiny actual trade union sector covering about a quarter of the workforce but predominantly in the Public Sector, indebtedness as a fact of life, non-existent Pension jobs sector, where only Teachers and MPs and Civil Servants have pensions, the poverty of the British worker is apparent all over Europe except to the British Workers, who see themselves as carrying the rest of Europe, a myth perpetuated by UKIP, and the right wing of the Tory Party.
We are really unable to live and work to bring our families up in a decent standard which in general take at least 2 decent salaries to do.
We work longer hours that all the rest of the countries in Old EC Europe. Long hour’s equals ever greater exploitation of ones labours. Also, it a moral obligation, to put the huge hours in to get a medium to reasonable living out of the job. Amongst this mayhem the leadership battle in the Labour Party explodes into a one sided landslide for a hard left candidate, who really didn’t want the job of Leader at all? Around 400 thousand predominantly young people, sign up to join the Labour Party to become Labour and join, Jeremy Corbyn’s campaign for the leadership, and the heart and soul of the Labour Party.
They are totally out of step with the ruling elites, that want any of the other three candidates, but certainly not Corbyn’s Socialist vision, however, it’s the” Socialist vision” that gives hope and optimism to the millions out there. Hence the paradox. We have to state quite unreservedly that this re-emergence of new forces to the Left has strengthened the Left generally as it has given us a boost of new fresh young forces that all movement needs to sustain a future development. When we cease to be able to enthuse and give hope to the youth we are failing in our basic tasks to re-generate ourselves and our political philosophy. So what is the Corbyn version? Well it seems more Keynesian, Aggregate Demand management, than really Socialist. Although its lots more return to the Public Sector, Rail, Transport, Utilities, Power, abandonment of £100 Billion Trident Nuclear Deterrent, but the public sector deal is done, with additional Industrial Democracy, which is the real winner for me.!
So a major return to a sort of Post War UK that we had under the Atlee 1945 Gov’t. The difference between then and now is that in the main the ownership of the companies we Nationalised were British owned or majority shareholding was based in the UK.. Now our Water is owned by both French and German Utilities and USA utilities, so the ownership of the Cartels and Companies being taken into public ownership, is now much more widespread in their shareholding.
What then should responsible Socialists be doing to aid and abet this process, and how do we relate to it ? Not with scorn and derision, and I’ve seen it all before, not with irresponsible paternalism, at their fumbling for the correct terms and words to express their anger and outrage at the naked exploitation that goes on all around them all day and all night long, not by laughing at them or being indulgent, or by just ignoring what’s happening. We have a responsibility to lead by example. We have a duty to recognise the possibilities that exist now, and help to turn todays “Corbynite idealists” into tomorrows “ Class struggle materialists and fighters for Socialism “ in the future ! That’s our job and that’s our role. Not scorn and derision ! That’s the real tasks for real Marxists and real Socialists of whatever variety ! We have to lead by example. We have to show we can work in coalitions, we can work together to defeat the Tory forces of reaction, and we can, and must work together, towards common desired objectives!
We work on Anti Austerity Campaigns (Wage Freezes) we work on smashing austerity for the poor, and super profits for the rich. We work on re-establishing Public Ownership of Transport Rail. Utilities, Power, we organise and lead struggles against Markets in Housing, Education, Health, other necessary parts of our needs in the UK.
It’s the taking part of real time real life struggles that show where the balance of forces is, and how we can organise to beat them, and build both a new party and a movement, that can lead the way for these ….and other future struggles in the UK.
Saturday, August 15, 2015
A watershed in Labour?
I think some comrades have underestimated the situation. Labour is a capitalist party pursuing privatisation at home and war abroad. Those who oppose this agenda are already being ruthlessly witch-hunted. If Corbyn elected the battle will not end. It will begin.
Friday, August 14, 2015
"Factional nutters of the world unite!"
The i newspaper quotes a "senior Labour figure" describing anyone who opposes austerity as "a factional nutter". The privileged Westminster elite have a choice. They can just ignore the attacks on the poor. In abstaining on the Welfare cuts that is exactly what they have done.
Andy Burnham excuses this behaviour by saying that he had "cabinet responsibility" and could not vote against a decision of the shadow cabinet. In 1951 a young man called Harold Wilson was faced with a similar dilemma. He chose to resign from the cabinet rather than support an attack by Gaitskell on the NHS. To fall lower in the test than Harold Wilson is not a good start for a would-be leader.
The poor do not have a choice. The disabled do not have a choice. Public sector workers do not have a choice. They either oppose the politics of austerity or they let a government of, by and for the millionaires trample all over them.
So why didn't they flock to Labour in the election? Because Labour, Tory and Liberal were all offering similar flavours of austerity.
Mark Steel satirises the attitude of the right wing towards new Labour Party members - they are horrified that people will join Labour to vote for socialism.
Whatever the outcome of the leadership election, the fight against austerity will continue. The trade unions will be in the front line of that fight because they have no choice.
There is a lobby of the TUC on 13th September. It is time for the TUC to get off its knees. "factional nutters" of the world unite!
The rally will begin at 1PM on Sunday 13 September in the Charlotte Room of the Grand Hotel, 97-99 King’s Road, Brighton, BN1 2FW.
Andy Burnham excuses this behaviour by saying that he had "cabinet responsibility" and could not vote against a decision of the shadow cabinet. In 1951 a young man called Harold Wilson was faced with a similar dilemma. He chose to resign from the cabinet rather than support an attack by Gaitskell on the NHS. To fall lower in the test than Harold Wilson is not a good start for a would-be leader.
The poor do not have a choice. The disabled do not have a choice. Public sector workers do not have a choice. They either oppose the politics of austerity or they let a government of, by and for the millionaires trample all over them.
So why didn't they flock to Labour in the election? Because Labour, Tory and Liberal were all offering similar flavours of austerity.
Mark Steel satirises the attitude of the right wing towards new Labour Party members - they are horrified that people will join Labour to vote for socialism.
Whatever the outcome of the leadership election, the fight against austerity will continue. The trade unions will be in the front line of that fight because they have no choice.
There is a lobby of the TUC on 13th September. It is time for the TUC to get off its knees. "factional nutters" of the world unite!
The rally will begin at 1PM on Sunday 13 September in the Charlotte Room of the Grand Hotel, 97-99 King’s Road, Brighton, BN1 2FW.
Wednesday, August 05, 2015
Burnhamites crass manoeuvres
Enlisting Lord Kinnock of Humbug to support Burnham was an act of crass stupidity.
The latest move by Harriet Harman is to warn all MPs that new Labour members might be dangerous lefties. Kinnock witch-hunted his political opponents who were fighting the Tories in ways he did not approve (and showed up his pathetic leadership).
Is Harman engaged in a pre-emptive witch hunt?
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