After 14 years of austerity and brutal attacks, it is with great satisfaction that we now witness the death-agony of the Tory Party.
The party’s latest embarrassment over #BettingGate, following a number of other damaging gaffes in recent weeks, has helped to dig the Tories into an even deeper hole. Every utterance by Sunak, it seems, is another nail in the Conservatives’ coffin.
The ‘alternative’ on offer isn’t much better, however. The Starmeroid Labour Party is now practically indistinguishable from the Tories. The Labour leaders have completely abandoned any left policies, and fully embraced big business.
You don’t need a crystal ball to see what lies in store under a ‘Labour’ government. Adopting Tory austerity, Starmer has made it plain that there will be no more money for hospitals, schools, and essential services. To avoid breaking any promises, he refuses to make any!
Swathes of voters are angry and disillusioned with what these capitalist politicians are serving up. They detest the Tories, no doubt about that. But many will hold their nose as they put a cross against Labour. There is no enthusiasm for Starmer, this Knight of the Realm, who is destined for the House of Lords.
Age of uncertainty
Things have never been so unstable and crisis-ridden. Compared to the past, Britain has become unrecognisable.
The long-term decline of British capitalism, intensified by the deep slump of 2008, ushered in a qualitatively new period.
“British politics enters the age of uncertainty,” was the headline of an editorial in the Financial Times some ten years ago.
This article appeared a month after the shock result in the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, where support for a Yes vote reached 45%.
Some months later, in the 2015 general election, Labour was smashed in Scotland, as were the Tories and Liberals. The SNP won a landslide north of the border.
Corbyn’s rise and fall
Shortly after that, Jeremy Corbyn was elected leader of the Labour Party, to the horror of the establishment – another unprecedented political earthquake.
In 2016, the Brexit vote provided a further shock for the establishment. David Cameron’s political gamble massively backfired, dealing British capitalism a devastating blow.
Then, in 2017, Corbyn came from behind to nearly win the snap general election, producing panic amongst the ruling class.
The capitalist establishment, in league with the Labour right wing, launched a ferocious campaign to remove him, using antisemitism smears as their main weapon.
Corbyn should have used deselection to kick out all the right-wing MPs in the Parliamentary Labour Party. Unfortunately, the Labour ‘left’ capitulated, apologising for non-existent antisemitism, and desperately seeking unity with these backstabbing saboteurs. This spelt the end for Corbynism.
Tory degeneration
Not so long ago, the Tory Party was heralded as the most successful conservative party in Europe – if not the world. But what a degeneration the Tories have undergone since. The party, along with the entire British establishment, has become a laughing stock.
The victory of Boris Johnson as Conservative leader, and then as prime minister, represented the ascendency of a maverick and a buffoon. It showed that the ruling class had lost control over the Tory Party, its primary political representative.
With Brexit, the Tories became ‘Trumpised’. The inmates were now running the asylum.
Britain was then hit by the pandemic and the biggest slump for 300 years.
Eventually, the wheels came off for Boris. He was followed by Liz Truss, however, another reckless careerist, elected by the crazed Tory membership, who lasted a mere 49 days.
The ruling class then managed to manoeuvre Rishi Sunak into Number 10 as a ‘safe pair of hands’. But this has proved to be too little, too late.
After years of crisis and decay, sleaze and scandal, Sunak and the Tories now face oblivion.
Such will be the scale of defeat for the Conservatives in this election, that the Tory Party is unlikely to survive in its present form. A new, more right-wing formation will likely arise from the ashes, with ultra-reactionary figures like Suella Braverman and Nigel Farage calling the shots.
The clowns and jesters will well and truly have taken over the court.
“Mood for revolution”
The situation has never been so unstable – economically, socially, or politically. In the space of this parliament, we have had three prime ministers and five chancellors!
This chaos reflects the complete impasse and demise of British capitalism.
For the mass of people, living standards have been severely hit. Disillusionment and anger towards the establishment – including Westminster and traditional politicians of all stripes – is widespread.
“The British public is in a mood for revolution,” remarked Tory grandee David Frost in the Telegraph back in January. This is certainly an indication of where things are headed.
Class battles
Starmer may be eyeing-up a massive majority. But this has far more to do with the Tories’ haemorrhaging support than any real warmth towards Labour.
In fact, one poll suggested that 60 percent of voters were considering voting for an independent candidate.
Given the intense levels of dissatisfaction already, a Starmer Labour government will quickly become hated.
Councils will be going bankrupt. Schools will continue crumbling. The NHS will be plunged deeper into crisis. And workers will be demanding higher pay. There will be one battle after another.
Banner of communism
Unfortunately, the leadership of the trade unions is completely out of touch, acting as a colossal brake on the movement of the working class.
And the Labour ‘lefts’ are little different, as we saw in the Corbyn years.
None of them have learnt the lessons of these events. There are still those on the left who say that capitalism can be patched up; who believe that a Labour government could ‘tax the rich’ and ‘grow’ the economy.
In one recent interview, for example, RMT leader Mick Lynch suggested that socialism will happen through “gradual reform”. But this bit-by-bit approach has never got us anywhere. We are worse off now than ever before.
Mick argues that we need to cling to the Labour Party, which he says should be put under pressure from “social democrats” like himself.
The RMT general secretary even mentions Lenin as a “social democrat”. But Lenin ditched this tarnished label after the great betrayal of 1914, adopting instead the clean banner of communism – a banner that we proudly raise today.
Join the RCP
Britain is entering into an even-stormier period, reflecting the dire crisis of capitalism. Society is facing its biggest shake-up in more than a hundred years.
A larger and larger layer is already drawing revolutionary conclusions. And through the upheavals and hammer blows to come, the consciousness of millions will be radically transformed.
We, as revolutionary communists, will play our part in the struggles ahead.
If Fiona Lali is successful in Stratford & Bow, she would provide a revolutionary communist voice in Parliament. This would resonate throughout the country, and provide a cutting edge in the fight against a right-wing Starmer government.
There is no way out on the basis of capitalism, which can only offer further war, crisis, and misery.
Join us today: to build the Revolutionary Communist Party, and turn it into a mass force that can shape the future; that can become a factor in the titanic events that lie ahead; and that can become a genuine reference point for all those looking to overthrow this decrepit system.
