Britannia is sailing into uncharted, stormy waters. Above the surface, fierce waves are buffeting British capitalism and its institutions. Down below, in the oceanic depths of society, powerful undercurrents are churning, driving this tempestuous turbulence.
In an effort to distract from the fact that their own vessel is sinking, Tory captains are whipping up worries about other boats.
There’s big ones, with the UK – alongside US imperialism – deploying missiles against Houthi targets in Yemen to protect large container ships in the Red Sea.
And there’s small ones, with Sunak’s government tearing itself to pieces over the question of migration – in particular, the manufactured ‘crisis’ of asylum-seekers arriving on Britain’s shores via the English Channel, whom headbanger Tories are determined to deport to Rwanda.
Capitalist criminals
Things are equally chaotic back on dry land, however.
The ongoing genocidal slaughter in Gaza is acting as a lightning rod for all the accumulated anger amongst workers and youth, bringing millions out onto the streets week-in, week-out against imperialist war and oppression.
hands off palestine, hands off yemen 💪 pic.twitter.com/rRa3Mt88qB
— Frank Higson (@FrankHigson1) January 13, 2024
And each day seems to bring with it a fresh scandal, exposing the crimes of the British establishment and its representatives.
The monarchy and the media; the police and Parliament: all of these capitalist pillars are increasingly being discredited, undermined, and brought into disrepute.
The Post Office affair, brought to the public’s attention thanks to a recent TV drama, is the latest episode to highlight the disgusting injustices that working people have to endure under capitalism.
While innocent workers struggle to clear their names, the real thieves and scoundrels – the bosses, bankers, and their political figureheads – are running amok in Westminster and the City of London.
Electoral oblivion
The Tories, above all, embody the decrepitness of the system they serve, which is decaying from the head down.
By-elections are becoming an almost weekly occurrence, thanks to the misdemeanours and abuses of the party’s MPs. Each of these contests, in turn, acts as a mini-referendum on the government’s popularity and fortunes, offering ordinary constituents the opportunity to give this floundering regime a further good kicking.
Seemingly iron-strong majorities in Conservative seats are being overturned, one after another, adding to the sense of despair amongst remaining Tory backbenchers.
Danny Kruger, Tory MP for Devizes, recently warned that the party faces “obliteration” at the next general election, with the latest YouGov poll in the Telegraph predicting a wipeout for the Conservatives and a landslide victory for Labour.
The results of this survey suggest that the Tories will lose every Red Wall seat gained in 2019, that 11 cabinet ministers will be voted out, and that Keir Starmer will be handed a 120-seat majority.
No wonder the Prime Minister has prevaricated over the question of when to call an election. With no sign of improvement on the horizon, either for the UK economy or for the Tories’ polling figures, Rishi Sunak’s choice is between stumbling on until the autumn, or letting voters put him out of his misery in May.
These apocalyptic omens, meanwhile, are fuelling a mutinous mood within the Tory ranks. And the most opportunistic figures are happily adding petrol to the flames, stridently posturing over questions such as migration and policing, in order to place themselves in pole position come the inevitable race to replace their current lame-duck leader.
Kick them out!
Workers and youth look upon this spectacle of squabbling and squealing with disgust. While cynical careerists jostle to be the latest ill-fated Tory leader, throwing lashings of red meat to the party’s rabid membership, the working class is being hammered from every direction.
According to the Resolution Foundation, the average worker will be 4 percent poorer – in terms of real disposable income – by the time of the next election than they were at the last one. The same think-tank also suggests that real wages will be no higher at the end of 2024 than they were in 2006. The latest ONS data, meanwhile, shows that UK life expectancy has fallen to 2010 levels.
Another recent survey found that three-quarters of people in Britain believe the country is in a worse shape now than it was when the Conservatives came to power in 2010. And one Ipsos poll found that politicians, in general, are the least trusted profession amongst the public, with historic lows of only 9 percent believing Westminster’s inhabitants to be truthful.
With the press today reporting remarks from a Tory MP that the UK is in worse shape than in 2010 when the Conservatives took power, our poll finds three quarters of Britons agree with this assessment
All Britons: 75%
2019 Con voters: 68%https://t.co/u7AeiQ3KSz pic.twitter.com/b1sPLHUB4X— YouGov (@YouGov) January 8, 2024
Few have any illusions that Starmer and his cronies will be any better.
First he broke every one of his leadership campaign pledges. Then he alienated swathes of Labour voters with his support for Israel’s besiegement and bombing of Gaza.
Now the establishment’s knight in shining armour is continuing his Blairite tribute act by throwing his support behind western imperialism’s latest intervention in the Middle East – this time in Yemen.
We say: Kick them all out! Overthrow the warmongers and their barbaric system!
Join the communists!
All of this is taking place against an increasingly unstable backdrop for capitalism globally.
While the rich and powerful rub shoulders in snowy Davos for the latest summit of the world elites, fires are raging across the planet.
Uncertainty and volatility are the main themes of this year’s billionaire gathering. 2023’s ‘polycrisis’ motif is also still prominent. And this is before the potential turmoil of a Trump victory – and other economic, political, and social upheavals – is added to the mix.
No matter when the next UK general election is, or who wins it, therefore, the outcome will be the same as far as the working class is concerned.
The focus of our energies must be on forging a genuine alternative: a Revolutionary Communist Party that can show a way forward out of capitalism’s impasse, by ripping this rotten system up at its roots.
So, if you’re a communist – jump aboard as we chart a course towards revolution! Join us today, get organised, and help build The Communist and the RCP.
