Since its launch last month, the Enough is Enough campaign has gathered momentum, organising large rallies in London, Manchester, and Liverpool. To tackle the cost-of-living crisis, the movement must fight for a bold socialist alternative.
A new campaign called ‘Enough is Enough’ has been launched in recent weeks, in response to the cost-of-living crisis and the wider attacks on the working class.
Already, at the time of writing, around 500,000 people have signed up to the campaign – an expression of the anger building up in the working class in Britain.
This comes amid a resurgence of the labour movement and a deepening energy catastrophe.
Socialist Appeal supporters previously attended the Enough is Enough launch rally in London last month. Since then, there have been further rallies in Manchester and Liverpool. And more are planned for Norwich (tonight) and Glasgow (tomorrow).
At these rallies, our comrades have been arguing the case for bold socialist policies that tackle the root of the problem: the chaotic, crisis-ridden capitalist system.
Manchester
The campaign came to Manchester on 30 August. Held at Manchester Cathedral, this event was attended by thousands – so many that an overflow rally was held outside.
Enough is Enough are currently holding their Manchester launch rally in Manchester Cathedral. These are the people outside who couldn’t get in. Packed out. People have had enough pic.twitter.com/oe834ga3tZ
— Pickles U Fat Get (@torysmasher) August 30, 2022
The crowd was incredibly energetic, with RMT assistant general secretary Eddie Dempsey receiving a standing ovation.
Other speakers included Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham; Dave Ward, general secretary of the Communication Workers Union (CWU); and Jake Johnson of community union ACORN.
Calls for nationalisation saw some of the biggest applause of the night. In fact, the more radical the speeches, the greater the response. This shows the real mood in Britain today, which increasingly feels like a tinderbox ready to ignite.
Notably, bold references were made to historic struggles of the working class
“We are the Chartists. We are the Suffragettes. We brought democracy to this country,” Dempsey bellowed to the overspill rally outside. “We built the NHS and social housing and the education system – and we’re going to take it back.”
“We are the Chartists. We are the Suffragettes. We brought democracy to this country. We built the NHS and social housing and the education system – and we’re going to take it back.”
Eddie Dempsey of @RMTunion at tonight’s #EnoughlsEnough rally overspill. pic.twitter.com/aJCMFZtGID
— Enough is Enough (@eiecampaign) August 30, 2022
Dempsey also called for taking the wealth of the rich into our own hands, through collective, unified action.
Liverpool
The Liverpool rally was then held on 2 September at St. George’s Hall. Roughly 1,000 people attended – the biggest and most energetic crowd that has gathered for a left-wing event in Merseyside in years.
Comrades walked the length of the queues to get in – which stretched around the outside of the venue – energetically raising slogans such as ‘expropriate the billionaires!’ and ‘we need a revolution’, which gained the nodding approval of many.
This queue goes right round St George’s Hall in #Liverpool, and St George’s Hall is massive.#EnoughIsEnough pic.twitter.com/jC0DYQ5L54
— ❄ Flowerchucker ?? (@flowerchucker) September 2, 2022
Speakers again included Eddie Dempsey and Dave Ward, alongside Equity general secretary Paul Fleming and Liverpool UFC fighter Molly ‘Meatball’ McCann, among others.
Dempsey and Ward both suggested that the next steps for the campaign will include collective action, as well as getting unorganised supporters into unions.
Dempsey correctly stated that a change has begun to happen in society. The tide is beginning to turn in Britain, and the class struggle is set to reach new heights in the coming period.
“Everything working-class people have fought for in this country is being taken from us. Our NHS, our council housing, our education and jobs. Enough is enough.”
Eddie Dempsey of @RMTunion addresses a massive Friday night crowd in Liverpool.#EnoughlsEnough pic.twitter.com/u9W1IebGJv
— Ronan Burtenshaw (@ronanburtenshaw) September 2, 2022
The cost-of-living crisis and looming recession is set to devastate ordinary people’s lives. Millions will go cold and hungry, while the bosses will be laughing all the way to the bank.
The working class can see what is coming. And this rally, as with others that have taken place, are evidence that workers and youth are up for a fight.
Fight for socialism
The Enough Is Enough campaign is an important development, coming at a time when “the working class is back” as RMT general secretary Mick Lynch stated at the London launch event.
It is providing a point of reference – a mass campaign around a set of demands – for workers and youth angry at the Tories, yet dissatisfied by Starmer’s Labour.
But we must be honest and tell the truth: the cost-of-living crisis we are seeing today is but a symptom of the crisis of capitalism.
Alongside demands around wages, housing, and energy bills, therefore, we must also state what kind of system we are fighting for.
In fact, Helen O’Connor, organiser for the GMB union, explicitly made this point at the opening rally in London, emphasising the movement must unashamedly fight for socialism.
This means fighting for bold socialist demands: the expropriation of the billionaires; the nationalisation of the monopolies, under democratic workers’ control; and a sliding scale of wages, with pay linked to prices.
This is the only way to put an end to this rotten system, which offers nothing but misery for the working class. Capitalism is crisis. We need a revolution.
