Democratic Manifesto
The BBC’s Laura Tory Kunsberg asked Corbo the classic trap question “have you stopped beating your wife”? It was wrapped up as ‘will you leave the EU under all and every circumstance?’ Any sensible person would have to think before answering that hypothetical. Corbo repeats “we are leaving the EU”. “Yes but” says Tory ‘what if it is really really bad?’ ‘Will you back a totally shit Brexit? Yes or No?’ So here is headline news for the BBC and the Tory press.
It is not the sort of question anybody would ask May who says we are leaving the EU, the single market and the customs union no matter how disastrous. If necessary we will have a trade war with Germany. [Don’t forget we have the nukes just in case!] The Tories are ruthless. They would sacrifice anybody and anything for the good of their party. They want to harvest the votes of all the Anglo-British chauvinists. Nothing like ‘war’ and war mongering to ignite the UKIP wing of the Tory Party.
There are really three separate elections going on in parallel universes, which only become one because we vote on the same day. The first two elections are in England and Wales. The Tories are running a plebiscite on “strong and stable leadership” provided by a weak and unprincipled opportunist. Why does the country need an elected dictator? Because of the dangers of Brexit, silly! This is the Tory Brexit election plebiscite and so Laura Tory was on message with her question.
May’s record of twisting and turning is there for anybody to see. Never forget her two London vans with adverts of the side telling any immigrants to ‘go home’. It was a publicity stunt for May. She didn’t actually use the second van. It was only there so she could say there was more than one. The Tories are experts in wasting tax payers for the sake of vanity and a bit of racist publicity.
Of course her behaviour contrasts with the everyday Tory story of ‘Corbo-the-Weak’. For a man who has had more bombs dropped on him than the Second World War and emerges smiling from his bunker, it is truly remarkable. Strong leader battles on against all the odds. No wonder they hate him. Nobody is more dangerous than a man, or women, who doesn’t know when they are beaten. Corbo will not be the next Prime Minister or I will eat my porridge. If the polls are right it will be a heavy defeat. But a score draw would be a great result for Corbyn and equally bad for May. So it is all to play for.
Labour are running a different, and in some ways a more normal, election. They are focused on issues like health, education, taxing the rich and “for the many not the few”. We have yet to see the manifesto. Whatever it’s finer points we have to recognise that Corbyn is currently the political leader of the working class movement. However we should give no support to Labour’s fifth column of right wing (or New Labour) MPs whose main aim is to sabotage Corbyn at every opportunity. So we should give critical support for Corbyn and oppose all his right wing enemies in the Tory Party AND the Labour Party.
A third election is taking place in another country. The battle lines are drawn up in Scotland around the constitution and the related issue of a second independence referendum. On one side are reactionary or simply conservative Unionists who include the Orange Order, the Tories, UKIP, Liberal Democrats and Scottish Labour. The present period has seen the growth of the Tories, who under Davidson have become the hard core militant fighters defending the British Union against ‘nationalism’.
On the other side are the national democrats and internationalist democrats, or anti-Unionists. All are demanding more democracy and self government for Scotland including the right to decide on remaining in the EU. These include the SNP, Green Party, Scottish Socialist Party, Rise, Left Unity and the SWP. Looked at from England there is only one position to take. We must critically support anti-Unionists and totally expose and condemn the Anglo-British chauvinists, especially the English social chauvinists.
So in conclusion the socialist movement needs to fight this election with its own independent democratic manifesto and not see it as simply or primarily about ‘supporting’ this and ‘opposing’ that. I would propose the following democratic demands for consideration.
• Democratic Exit from the EU
• Repeal the Act of Union
• Parliament for England
• Commonwealth of England
• Democratic NHS and public sector
• Democratic republican United States of Europe