LABOUR leader Corbyn, in his response to PM May’s Monday update to the House of Commons ahead of this week’s European Council, made it clear what direction he wants the Labour Party to take.
He rallied his supporters with the traditional Tory battle cry, usually put before announcing savage cuts, to ‘put the country before party’. He said: ‘As we reach a critical point in this nation’s history, we need a Prime Minister who will for once make the right decision, put the country before her party and stand up to the reckless voices on her Back Benches and within her Cabinet . . .’
He lambasted May that the ‘backstop’ crisis was of her making not the EU’s,’ saying: ‘Is it not the case that the backstop is necessary only because the government will not agree to a new comprehensive customs union with the EU, with a say for Britain in future trade deals? How long is her envisaged temporary deal? One year? Two years? Five years? More? Britain deserves a bit better than this . . .’
He continued: ‘There is an alternative option – an alternative that can command the support of Parliament and the country. Labour has set out our six tests. Indeed, at times the Prime Minister has said that she will meet them. Labour’s plan is for Britain and the EU to negotiate a permanent customs union to protect jobs and manufacturing!’
He ended his speech by saying: ‘The Prime Minister faces a simple and inescapable choice: be buffeted this way and that way by the chaos of her own party, or back a deal that can win the support of Parliament and the people of this country.’
In one bound Corbyn had put the needs of the capitalist nation (ie. the bosses and bankers) first, and rubbished Labour’s pledges made in the 2017 general election manifesto, that successfully deprived May of her majority, by pledging to carry out the 2016 referendum result to leave the EU, its single market and its customs union!
He has put the interests of the bankers and bosses first and risked Labour losing large numbers of seats in a general election when the millions who voted ‘Leave’ will not turn out for Labour after his betrayal.
Putting the interests of the capitalists first he has signalled to May that she can ignore the Johnson, Davis, Leadsom, Rees-Mogg-led gang, because Labour under Corbyn will push any further capitulation through!
Such a policy will split the Labour Party and the trade unions, since its priority is to satisfy the interests of the bankers and bosses and keep a May government in office, and the country in the EU, with its votes, and to hell with the referendum, and Labour’s 2017 general election manifesto.
History has a warning about such conduct and where it leads. In 1924 Labour became the government, led by Ramsay MacDonald. It lasted just a year. In 1929, the year of the Great Crash, Labour, with MacDonald at its head, returned to office.
Faced with the Great Crash, MacDonald and Chancellor Philip Snowden made savage cuts that included cutting the dole. The cabinet split, and MacDonald formed a National Government with the Tories and some Liberals.
The subsequent general election decimated the Labour Party but left MacDonald and a tiny handful of ‘National Labour’ members of parliament in office as a front for the Tory Party. After 1931 MacDonald was repeatedly and bitterly denounced by the Labour movement as a traitor to their cause.
There is another great crash on the way. Capitalism is in a desperate crisis. If a Labour Party, led by Corbyn, keeps the May government in office and helps smash up the Brexit referendum result, the UK will be on its way to another National Government. This will take the MacDonald road of cutting the dole and making the working class pay for the crisis of the bosses.
The millions of trade unionists must now take action to stop Labour propping up May and to ensure that Britain leaves the EU and takes the road to socialism. Workers will note that the Unite trade union was ready to discuss the TUC taking general strike action to stay in the EU, despite the referendum result.
Workers must now organise and build a new revolutionary leadership inside the trade unions that will organise the general strike to bring down the May government and bring in a workers government. This will expropriate the bosses and the bankers and bring in a socialist UK. There is no doubt that this example will be emulated all over the crisis-ridden EU, and the crisis-ridden capitalist world as a whole!
Come to our News Line Anniversary rally on Sunday November 4 where these issues will be fully discussed.
