The closure of Rover involves the loss of 26,000 jobs, in the plant and
the industries that supply it. The present owners were called in to
“save” jobs. All they have done is siphoned off millions for
themselves. The only answer is nationalisation under workers’ control.
Mick Brooks looks at the historical background to the British car
industry and in particular that of Rover. It is a history of decline,
of underinvestment, and finally of collapse. Now all the attempts to
save Rover by looking for private buyers have failed. It is a
reflection of the decline of the British capitalist class as a whole.
The media have just finished celebrating the 60th anniversary of the
end of the Second World War. We would like to remind our readers of an
important event that took place around the same time, the Neath
by-election on 15th May 1945. For the first time in Britain, a
Trotskyist party, the Revolutionary Communist Party, contested a
Parliamentary election. The seat was solid Labour, but the vote for the
RCP was significant. Even more significant was the way the party was
able to link up with the most advanced workers and youth.
The state of the world economy, the USA, China, the disastrous war in
Iraq, all have a direct effect on the situation in Britain. Some may
find a contradiction in the fact that although Blair is very unpopular
he will almost certainly win the elections. The fact is that there is
no alternative. The workers of Britain have not forgotten what the
Tories did when they were in power. But the undercurrents are already
discernable and these will sooner or later come to the surface.
The message of this book is that the destiny of Ireland is a Workers’
Republic, a free Republic without landlords, bankers and capitalists.
It is a message of hope, of confidence in the future of Ireland, the
working class and socialism. It is non-sectarian equally addressed to
all thinking people from different backgrounds, but especially to the
cadres and the youth of the Republican movement, who have paid a very
heavy price for the last thirty years and who are now seeking
explanations.
He
who does not learn from history will forever be doomed to repeat it. It
is time to take stock of the past of the Republican movement and to
draw a balance sheet. Only by such means can we extricate ourselves
from the present impasse, and build the revolutionary movement urgently
needed to prevent a further descent into sectarian chaos and achieve
instead the historic task of overthrowing capitalism and constructing
the 32-county Socialist Republic. This is the introduction to the
recently published book Ireland: Republicanism and Revolution, to be ordered from Wellred Books. (May 2005)