In the summer of 1858, mounting effluent on the banks of the River Thames combined with unusually high temperatures to produce the infamous ‘Great Stink’.
So potent was the stench that it could apparently be smelt across central London. Overwhelmed by the noxious fumes, MPs inside the House of Commons complained that they were unable to conduct important parliamentary business. Out of desperation, some even suggested moving the seat of government out of the capital altogether.
Today, a similarly foul smell emanates from Westminster. But the source is no longer the pollutants in the water, but the rancid occupants in Parliament itself – residing in a dilapidated edifice that is aptly crumbling to pieces.
Putrid institutions
The organs of the British establishment have become a collective cesspit of corruption and cronyism; of scandal and abuse.
Tabloid frontpages distract readers with headlines about the Royals’ latest ailments and diagnoses. But in truth, the whole monarchy is a cancerous parasite: leeching off the public purse, while providing a sanctuary for suspected sex-pests and predators.
The police – tasked with protecting the property and privileges of the rich and powerful – are just as reprehensible, offering a home to countless racists and rapists. No wonder public confidence in the Met is at rock bottom.
Yet it is the institutions of bourgeois democracy that seem to have putrefied the most. The so-called ‘Commons’ is stuffed full of crooks, clowns, and careerists. Every week seems to bring with it new allegations of misconduct and misdemeanour by MPs, with constant revelations about harassment, bullying, and sleaze.
As a result, there is a widespread hatred towards all the traditional parties and puffed-up politicians. One recent survey by the ONS put Parliament and political parties at the bottom of the pile when it comes to the public’s faith in the bodies of the British state, on 24% and 12% trust respectively.
Similarly, a recent Ipsos poll suggested that politicians are the least trusted profession in Britain, on 9%, behind bankers, landlords, and estate agents – the lowest of the low.
British capitalism is rotting from the head down.
Stinking hypocrites
The overriding waft on Downing Street, meanwhile, is the reek of desperation.
Wracked by endless by-election defeats, internal plots, and backbench rebellions, Rishi Sunak and the Tories are eager to manufacture all manner of distractions: from whipping up panic about supposed ‘mob rule’ and ‘threats to British democracy’; to conducting ridiculous culture-war skirmishes over the England football kit.
But as the old Greek proverb states: whom the gods wish to destroy, they first make mad. And in this case, every attempt by the Tory government to divert attention from its crimes seems to blow up in its own face.
Within days of Sunak warning the nation about the dangers of ‘extremism’ on Britain’s streets, the Tories were ensnared by reports of abusive remarks by one of their most prominent benefactors, businessman Frank Hester, who stated that left-winger Diane Abbott makes him “want to hate all black women” and “should be shot”.
Our comrades have had their mugshots plastered all over social media by the Met, accused of ‘inciting hatred’ for showing solidarity with Palestinians and chanting ‘intifada until victory’. Millionaire Tory donors, by contrast, barely get a slap on the wrist for saying that a black female MP should be murdered!
Sunak has offered a mealy-mouthed response, noting Hester’s apology and stating that his “remorse should be accepted”. At the end of the day, the Prime Minister knows that for many in his party, the Tories are not racist enough!
The notorious former deputy Conservative chair, Lee Anderson, for example, has defected to professional migrant-bashers Reform UK, after refusing to apologise for Islamophobic comments made on gutter outlet GB News.
At the same time, a swathe of Tory MPs are up in arms over judicial blocks to their Rwanda deportation plan, which has become the latest shibboleth for the most rabid layers of the Conservative Party – including potential future leadership contenders such as Kemi Badenoch and Suella Braverman.
For these Tory headbangers, the ‘hostile environment’ cannot be hostile enough.
Zombie government
Aside from speeches about asylum-seekers and Islamists, and complaints about perversions of parliamentary procedure, it seems that this shambolic government does little else.
According to new analysis by the Financial Times, the time spent by MPs in the House of Commons has been shorter on average for this parliamentary session than in any other in the past 25 years.
These findings have led to accusations that Sunak is presiding over a “zombie parliament”, with these malingerers shuffling in and out of Westminster just to gorge themselves on a feast of taxpayer-funded perks.
Sunak’s government certainly resembles the living dead – stumbling from one calamity to the next, just waiting to be put out of its misery at the next general election. The only uncertainty that remains is when the execution date is.
Unfortunately for the working class, however, the ‘alternative’ is no better. Starmer’s Labour has nothing to offer the exploited and the oppressed.
Whether it be the closure of industry, like the steelworks in Port Talbot; the slashing of services in bankrupt councils such as Birmingham; or the suffering facing thousands and millions in Gaza: the right-wing Labour leaders remain completely silent in the face of these injustices and horrors.
Instead, Keir Starmer and his sidekick Rachel Reeves have spent all their energy on cosying up to big business, with promises of ‘fiscal responsibility’ and ‘sound finance’ – i.e. further austerity and vicious cuts.
Workers must therefore trust only in themselves. They can have no confidence whatsoever in these charlatans.
Sick system
Faced with this choice between Tweedledee and Tweedledum, many workers and youth are understandably looking elsewhere when it comes to casting their vote. And they will have a variety of options to choose from at the next election.
George Galloway and his Workers’ Party of Britain are looking to capitalise on their recent victory in Rochdale. Jeremy Corbyn is likely to contest his current Islington North seat, possibly in coordination with allies in other constituencies. And left-wingers such as journalist Owen Jones are canvassing support for Green candidates and pro-Palestine independents.
Given the burning anger towards the political establishment, there is a possibility that some of these protest votes could actually win.
Even if this transpires, however, it will not be enough.
Globally, the capitalist system has nothing to offer but crises, wars, inequality, and climate catastrophe. British capitalism is completely bankrupt. Just last week, official data from the DWP revealed that a quarter of children are now living below the poverty line – the fastest rise in child poverty in the UK for 30 years.
Only a root-and-branch transformation of society will suffice. But such a revolutionary perspective is not on the agenda for any of these ‘lefts’, who cling to the mistaken idea that capitalism can be patched up and reformed, made ‘greener’ and ‘kinder’.
That is why we are launching the Revolutionary Communist Party, and the Revolutionary Communist International, to forge a genuine path forwards for the working class, in Britain and beyond.
Communist cleansing
Back in 1858, compelled into action by the stubborn stench, Parliament gave the relevant authorities the powers and funds needed to resolve London’s pungent problem.
This paved the way for Victorian engineer Joseph Bazalgette’s epic sewage network, which funnelled waste out of the city, curbing diseases such as cholera in the process.
Today, it is the entire system that stinks. It is capitalism that is killing us. Meanwhile, a degenerate Tory Party leads a decrepit government on behalf of a rotten establishment – incapable of maintaining schools and hospitals, let alone constructing ambitious new infrastructure projects.
It is time to flush away all this capitalist crap, and cleanse society of this feckless, foetid filth.
Gaza, Port Talbot, council cuts: We need fighting leadership!
The Communist
The working class is under attack on all fronts.
In the Middle East, Netanyahu’s genocidal massacre in Gaza continues – aided and abetted by the imperialists in Washington and London.
Back in Britain, councils across the country are declaring bankruptcy. In Birmingham, devastating local authority cuts are decimating services. Arts and culture funding has been eliminated. And the city’s street lights are even being dimmed in a desperate attempt to save money.
At the same time, as the crisis of British capitalism deepens, industry is going to the wall. In Port Talbot, a jobs massacre is imminent, as Tata bosses begin to dismantle the town’s steelworks. Thousands of workers are set for the scrapheap. The livelihoods of the entire community are at risk.
The blame for these catastrophes lies squarely with the capitalists, their political representatives, and the system they defend. The interests of imperialism and the anarchy of the market are responsible for all this war, austerity, and misery.
In the face of such disasters, it is clear that no half-measures will suffice. As the old socialist saying goes: you cannot cure cancer with an aspirin.
The warmongers will not be persuaded to stop their slaughter by nicely-worded resolutions and appeals.
The Tories will not be morally pressured into bailing out local councils and reversing the cuts.
And no amount of negotiations or compromises will prevent steel bosses from relocating production in order to maximise their profits.
Unfortunately, however, the strategy – as much as there is one – put forward by the leaders of the left and the labour movement goes no further than this.
The Palestine solidarity movement’s leadership has no plans beyond calling repeated marches from A to B.
In Birmingham, Labour councillors continue to cling to their failed ‘dented shield’ approach, whilst holding onto false hopes for an improvement under a future Starmer government.
And in Port Talbot, the trade union leaders have dragged their feet at every juncture, failing to call decisive militant action, and seemingly resigning themselves to defeat.
On all these questions, the leaders of the labour movement should be bringing the weight and power of the working class to bear on the situation: mobilising workers and youth around a programme of bold socialist demands, and a strategy based on mass class-struggle methods.
This highlights the urgent need for fighting leadership. And that is what we are aiming to provide, by launching the Revolutionary Communist Party.
So if you’re a communist: get organised, join your party, and help us build the RCP.
