Brexit vote: A blow to the corporate elite

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The following article reflects the views of Socialist Ac­ tion in the Canadian state. The editors are printing it as a contribution to the discussion on the topic, and hope to print additional commentary in subsequent editions of our newspaper.

mentary film maker, hit the nail on the head. When 52 per cent in Britain voted to leave the E.U. it was a devastating blow to the British ruling class and the European grand masters. It is not a matter of choosing between the European Union and the United Kingdom. Instead, as Pilger says, it is a matter of recognizing the virulently anti-working class agenda of big business in both the U.K. and the E.U.—an agenda of austerity and growing inequality, of pillage of the environment, and endless wars of intervention.

So the Earth moved on June 23. It did so for an ar­ ray of reasons that have as a common denominator mass opposition to the arrogant establishment and its hideous policies. Now the big capitalists are on their heels, spitefully lashing out at the voters, especially those they regard as the “ignorant losers in the global­ ization game,” who “should never have been trusted with such an important decision.” Referendum? Never again, the rich bastards say.

But the genie is out of the bottle. The U.K. Conservative Party is deeply divided. And the British rulers may lose more than “their markets” in Europe; they may lose the North of Ireland and Scotland in the bargain. It is also, as Pilger correctly argues, a blow for peace, and against the New Cold War aimed squarely at Russia and China. The question now is this: Will the radical left take the Defiance in the initiative, and act to win the broad left to a course of mass struggle to reverse social cuts, privatization and layoffs? Or absent that, amidst so much hand-wring­ ing over the fake democracy and illusory humanity of the E.U., will the left allow UKIP (unilaterally anointed by the business media as the sole voice of Brexit) to enjoy the benefit of the majority vote against the ty­ rants of the E.U.?

As Tariq Ali wrote in Counterpunch, Brexit “was a revolt against the political establishment (former Labour Party Leader Ed Miliband acknowledged this fact) and had Jeremy Corbyn come out for LEAVE his party would have been in a very strong position. The Tories are wounded. Labour and others should de­ mand an early election. Impossible to wait till 2020. And the election campaign should be waged fiercely for an anti-capitalist programme and fighting the Right on racism/xenophobia, etc. Mass campaigning of the sort that won Corbyn the leadership is the way forward.”

Jeremy Corbyn needs to shift radically to the left, and to mobilize his base against capitalist austerity. His movement must quash the Blairites who are now out for his skin, targeting him as a weak campaigner for the troika. What hypocrites! The Blairites governed in the spirit of Margaret Thatcher, laying the basis for the social misery that found a popular outlet in the Brexit vote.

This is a turning point in Britain, a potentially ter­ rific one. Sadly, some British leftists fail to recog­ nize that. Worse, they continue to defend a totally unprincipled line of setting their political compass according to the positions of assorted left liber­ als, social democrats and “left” labour bureaucrats. Just imagine if “Remain in the E.U.” had won. Every­ the head of the hideout tells him.

Knight reaches an epiphany when he real­ ... Sanders (continued from page 3) the 1% actually means.

Is building a labor party practi­ cal? Absolutely. Organized labor, diminished and battered though it may be, has significant finan­ cial and human resources. For the last several elections cycles, tens of millions of dollars and thousands of labor foot soldiers were placed at the disposal of the major capitalist parties.

Those resources, shifted from the parties of the 1% to labor’s own campaigns, would give the new-formed party instant vi­ ability. Meanwhile, such a shift in resources would deal a body blow to the Democrats and Re­ publicans.

But there’s something more be­ hind the idea of a labor party that really boosts its viability. Work­ ing people produce everything.

one now in charge of disaster capital­ ism would be celebrating. Celebrating what? The status quo, of course. In­ stead, we have a new situation where the only obvious result is that there are question marks over everything. It is a situation that socialists should welcome—and then quickly get to work.

On June 23, the Momentum group in the British La­ bour Party issued a statement, which included the fol­ lowing: “We recognise that people voted ‘Leave’ for many reasons. Much of this vote reflected anger in communities which have experienced many years of industrial decline with the subsequent loss of secure employment.

“Many such working-class communities have been utterly neglected for years by those in power. Mil­ lions appear to have chosen ‘Leave’ to vote against the unfettered globalisation that has seen living standards stagnate or fall, as the cost of living ris­ es. We share this scepticism of big business domi­ nance, austerity and distant elites, be they Brit­ ish, European or Global, and share that demand for a country where working people have control. “Many ‘Leave’ voters usually vote for Labour, or are working people Labour should represent.

“Now the Party and the whole labour movement needs to show the country that it alone can offer working people genuine control over their lives, workplaces and communities. Labour must clearly demonstrate how it will improve lives through poli­ cies that will increase wages, tackle the housing cri­ sis, and give people a greater say at work and in their communities.”

Amen. This is the view that should now be advanced in the New Democratic Party and in unions across Canada, as we continue the fight against the TPP and CETA, the latest of the nefarious corporate trade deals. n All of society’s wealth, though distributed unequally, has its origin in the labor of ordinary people. This gives us tremendous power. If the 1% took a day off, nobody would notice. But when all working people take the day off, it’s called a general strike, and the entire country grinds to a halt. What’s needed is not some new party in the abstract, but a new tool that can be used by working people to fight for politi­ cal power as a class, with the ulti­ mate aim of replacing the rule of the capitalist minority with the democratic rule of the working-class majority.

Along the way, in our zeal to build the movement we know is needed to set the world right, we should remember: success is not measured by how many people you have marching behind your banner, but by the number of people marching behind your banner in the right direction. n sources are the collective property of working people– the 99%–and democratically operated for human better­ ment not the individual profits of the 1%.

• Tax the rich and their corporations, not working people! End corporate bailouts! [Note:$32 trillion in corporate bail­ outs was granted to corporate America in the years immedi­ ately following the 2008 economic crash.] • Close all tax loopholes for the rich. Nationalize all ille­ gally “offshored” corporate profits.

• For a steeply graduated progressive income tax!

• 100% tax on all incomes over $300,000. Zero percent tax on all incomes under $50,000.

• Low interest, long-term government loans to protect small farmers gouged by banks and food trusts.

• End all military and military-related spending: Use the money saved towards a massive public works program and to fulfill the demands above.

10) For working-class political action independent of and against the twin parties of capitalism • For a united, democratic and fighting labor movement that champions the economic, social and political interests of all working people. Organize the unorganized 90 percent! Repeal Taft Hartley and all other anti-union legislation.

• For a Labor Party based on a revitalized, democratic, and expanded labor movement allied with the oppressed and ex­ ploited.

• Open the corporate books for union inspection!

• For a workers government and a fully democratic society of, by and for working people and the oppressed! Abolish capitalism! For socialism! n