“Our country has voted decisively for change, for national renewal, and a return of politics to public service… From now on you have a government unburdened by doctrine, guided only by a determination to serve your interests.”
These words were said by Keir Starmer in his first speech as prime minister almost two years ago. Labour had just ridden a landslide victory into Downing Street, made possible by the disgust of millions towards 14 years of Tory austerity, sleaze, and corruption.
In Britain today, however, one in five people still live in poverty. Life expectancy is falling. Youth unemployment is forecast to reach 1.25 million in the next five years. The costs of fuel, energy, and food are all rising. And the UK economy is in touching distance of a recession, saddled with billions of pounds of debt.
In the last year, Starmer’s government has had to borrow a further £132 billion. The majority of this will not go towards funding the NHS, schools, or welfare, but to covering existing debt payments. Paying off this interest will alone account for 8.3 percent of all public spending this year.
Sir Keir’s promises of change and pledges of servitude were not to workers and youth. Rather, these words were an oath of fealty to the shadowy cabal of investors who really run the country; the bond holders who bankroll the British state.
Dictatorship of capital
These bankers, billionaires, and fund managers – those who make up the untouchable ‘market’ – have always made their voices heard when it comes to the government’s decision-making.
In the past, they did this out of earshot, behind closed doors. Now, however, they are growing louder and bolder.
“This would be Labour’s first leadership election where the bond markets have a vote,” said one Labour official to the Financial Times, discussing the noisy demands of the super-rich for someone more competent to take the helm of British capitalism.
More accurately, the markets have never had a vote. But they have always had a say – even more so than the actual electorate. Democracy under capitalism is a sham.
Lenin explained that even the most ‘democratic’ states – with elections, parliaments, and various rights and freedoms – will be a dictatorship of capital, as long as the bankers and bosses are in control.
The Epstein files, meanwhile, have exposed exactly how closely knit – and deeply toxic – these networks of the ruling class are. They will do whatever it takes to protect their profits, privileges, and power. And they will act with impunity as they exploit workers, the vulnerable, and the planet.
Pound of flesh
Infamously, when Rishi Sunak replaced the ousted Liz Truss in 10 Downing Street in 2022, he said in his victory speech: “I need to dedicate this to my fantastic team, my friends, my family and, of course, the UK bond markets.”
Today, Rishi’s chums in the City of London and Wall Street are turning on Britain’s latest premier, and the contenders to replace him – demanding ever more attacks on the working class to ensure they get their pound of flesh.
But workers in Britain are already stretched to their limits. More cuts will only add fuel to an already explosive situation.
In other words, the bond markets might get the austerity they require. But this will come at the expense of even greater social and political instability; even more polarisation and radicalisation; and even weaker, more impotent leaders in Number 10.
Wipe out the Epstein class!
This is why some bourgeois commentators are declaring Britain today to be ‘ungovernable’.
What they really mean is that the bankers are no longer able to govern over us without resistance. But likewise, no government, within the confines of capitalism, is able to take society forward, due to the suffocating stranglehold of the markets.
In short, the interests of the capitalists are in direct conflict with the lives and livelihoods of the working class.
Only by nationalising the banks, expropriating the billionaires, and wiping out the Epstein class can we break this dictatorship of capital, and bring about a society based on our needs rather than their profits; a world governed by the many for the many, not by-and-for a parasitic, wealthy elite.
Join us in this fight – the fight for revolution.
