Tories in chaos - general election now!

The Labour leadership should be mobilising a mass movement, photo by Paul Mattsson (Click to enlarge)

Corbyn and unions must call mass action

Simon Carter

The divide in the Tory party over Brexit is now wider than the Grand Canyon.

Leadership contender Boris Johnson stuck the boot in on Theresa May's 'soft' Brexit plan, calling it a "suicide vest" around the UK. In turn, a damaging dossier on his personal life, drawn up by May's supporters, was leaked to the press.

Boris's tirade against the PM was backed by former minister Steve Baker, who warned that her Chequers plan would cause a "catastrophic split" as 80 Tory MPs would vote against it. That would leave the hapless May dependent on right-wing Labour MPs to secure a deal with the EU. Last July, four Labour MPs, including newly 'independent' Frank Field, saved May from defeat in a Commons Brexit vote.

Clearly, the Tory government's weakness is an opportunity for Jeremy Corbyn and the trade union leaders to mobilise mass action to bring it down and fight for a general election. Labour should pledge to scrap austerity, nationalise rail and the major utilities, and restore our wages and services.

But faced with such an open goal, Labour's Blairite MPs are determined to kick the ball into touch by trying to undermine and remove Corbyn as party leader.

No wonder Labour's rank-and-file members are passing 'no confidence' motions against sitting Blairite MPs and calling for democratic mandatory reselection.

And it's no wonder too that the capitalist elite which dreads the prospect of a Corbyn government is going all out to stop it. That's why the establishment media is full of baseless charges of antisemitism against Jeremy Corbyn, and why figures likes Chuka Umunna are threatening to split.

Outside the parliamentary circus, the vast majority of people want a government which instead of protecting the tax-dodging super-rich and giant corporations, invests in jobs, wages, housing and services. Mobilising millions of workers, young people and the elderly, to take the wealth and power off the capitalist elite, is what the Labour and trade union leaders should be doing.

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Finance appeal

The coronavirus crisis has laid bare the class character of society in numerous ways. It is making clear to many that it is the working class that keeps society running, not the CEOs of major corporations.

The results of austerity have been graphically demonstrated as public services strain to cope with the crisis.

The government has now ripped up its 'austerity' mantra and turned to policies that not long ago were denounced as socialist. But after the corona crisis, it will try to make the working class pay for it, by trying to claw back what has been given.

The Socialist Party's material is more vital than ever, so we can continue to report from workers who are fighting for better health and safety measures, against layoffs, for adequate staffing levels, etc.
When the health crisis subsides, we must be ready for the stormy events ahead and the need to arm workers' movements with a socialist programme - one which puts the health and needs of humanity before the profits of a few.