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301 working_01 cover 26/03/2020 18:38 Page 1
CHARTIST
For democratic socialism
#301 November/December 2019 £2
Ditching the Tories
Laura Parker
Julie Ward
Europe Matters
Don Flynn
Duncan Bowie
Tory troubles
Mary Southcott
Turkey attacks
Hassan Hoque
Islamophobia
Denis Wong
Hong Kong
Nigel Doggett
Extinction Rebellion
plus
Book reviews & regulars
ISSN - 0968 7866 ISSUE
www.chartist.org.uk
301 working_01 cover 26/03/2020 18:38 Page 2
Editorial Policy
Contributions and letters deadline for
CHARTIST #302
The editorial policy of CHARTIST is to
promote debate amongst people active in 08 December 2019
radical politics about the contemporary Chartist welcomes articles of 800 or 1500 words, and
relevance of democratic socialism across letters in electronic format only to: editor@chartist.org.uk
the spectrum of politics, economics,
science, philosophy, art, interpersonal Receive Chartist’s online newsletter: send your email address to news@chartistmagazine.org.uk
relations – in short, the whole realm of
social life. Chartist Advert Rates:
Our concern is with both democracy and
socialism. The history of the last century Inside Full page £200; 1/2 page £125; 1/4 page £75; 1/8 page £40; 1/16 page £25; small box 5x2cm £15 single
has made it abundantly clear that the sheet insert £50
mass of the population of the advanced We are also interested in advert swaps with other publications. To place an advert, please email:
capitalist countries will have no interest editor@chartist.org.uk
in any form of socialism which is not
thoroughly democratic in its principles,
its practices, its morality and its ideals.
Yet the consequences of this deep attach-
ment to democracy – one of the greatest
advances of our epoch – are seldom
reflected in the discussion and debates Editorial Board Contacts
amongst active socialists.
CHARTIST is not a party publication. It CHARTIST is published six times a year Published by Chartist Publications
brings together people who are interested by the Chartist Collective. This issue was PO Box 52751 London EC2P 2XF
in socialism, some of whom are active the produced by an Editorial Board consisting tel: 0845 456 4977
Labour Party and the trade union move- of Duncan Bowie (Reviews), Andrew
ment. It is concerned to deepen and Coates, Peter Chalk, Patricia d’Ardenne, Printed by People For Print Ltd, Unit 10, Riverside Park,
extend a dialogue with all other socialists Mike Davis (Editor), Nigel Doggett, Don Sheaf Gardens, Sheffield S2 4BB – Tel 0114 272 0915.
and with activists from other movements Flynn, Roger Gillham, Hassan Hoque, Email: info@peopleforprint.co.uk
involved in the struggle to find democrat- Peter Kenyon, Dave Lister, Patrick
ic alternatives to the oppression, exploita- Mulcahy, Sheila Osmanovic, Marina Website: www.chartist.org.uk
tion and injustices of capitalism and Prentoulis, Robbie Scott, Steve Carver Email: editor@chartist.org.uk
class society (Website Editor), Mary Southcott, John Twitter: @Chartist48
Sunderland.
Signed articles do not necessarily represent the views of Newsletter online: to join, email
the EB Production: Ferdousur Rehman webeditor@chartist.org.uk
Chartist 300 up– an historical perspective
301 working_01 cover 26/03/2020 18:38 Page 3
CONTENTS
FEATURES
8
WHITHER THE TORIES?
Don Flynn on Tory splits and rightward lurches
9
WHERE NOW ON BREXIT?
Peter Kenyon reflects on in or out
10
TORY SPENDING REVIEW
Dennis Leech exposes myths behind Javid’s
plans
11
EXTINCTION REBELLION
Tory hard-right digs in – Page 8 Nigel Doggett on getting tactics right on
Cover by Martin Rowson
climate emergency
12
CASE FOR EUROPE
Laura Parker explains why Labour must get
positive
CHARTIST
FOR DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISM
Number 301 November/December 2019
14
ISLAMOPHOBIA RIFE IN TORY PARTY
Hassan Hoque on inaction and history
REGULARS
4 OUR HISTORY 87
15
NEW RIGHT IDEOLOGUES May Day Manifesto
Andrew Coates on the sources of ethno-
populist ideas
5 EDITORIAL
Keep Tories in the ditch
16
LABOUR’S SCOTTISH CHALLENGE
Can Labour stop the SNP asks Gerry 6 POINTS & CROSSINGS
Paul Salveson stands up for UK nations
Hassan
7 GREENWATCH
Dave Toke on growing Greens in
18
Labour’s mission in Europe – Page 12 LABOUR & ANTISEMITISM Europe
Education resource is a work in progress
says Richard Kuper 24 YOUTH VIEW
Alice Arkwright on cleaner’s strikes
19 25
IRISH UNITY & BREXIT FILM REVIEW
Steve Freeman and Phil Vellender on a vote Patrick Mulcahy on The Joker
for all UK nations
26 BOOK REVIEWS
Peter Kenyon on Left for Dead and Paul
20
TRUMP’S GREEN LIGHT FOR TURKEY Mason; Glyn Ford on British traitors;
Bob Newland on Communists and
Mary Southcott puts Erdogan’s invasion in Race; Andrew Coates on Maurice
context Thorez and Marx 200; Duncan Bowie
on Metropolis and African champion
21
EXTEND VOTING RIGHTS
Phil Pope on widening the franchise 32 STRASBOURG VIEW
Julie Ward MEP on the Left for Europe
Subscribe to CHARTIST:
22
HONG KONG PROTESTS £18 ordinary subscription
Denis Wong on roots of rebellion £35 supporter subscription
Turkish offensive against Kurds – (6 issues)
Page 20 Visit
www.chartist.org.uk/subscribe
23
LONG VIEW ON TORY SPLITS for details
Duncan Bowie goes back to Peel
November/December 2019 CHARTIST 3
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OUR HISTORY
OUR HISTORY - 87
May Day Manifesto (1968)
he original draft of the manifesto was published in party becomes real, as a campaigning democratic institution,
T 1967, being revised for publication as a book by
Penguin the following year. The original Manifesto
was produced by a working group of socialists asso-
ciated with the New Left
Review, who described themselves as
‘intellectual socialists working in uni-
versities, technical colleges, schools and
it is at once a focus of genuinely alternative power…. It is not
in the obsolete perspective of the choice between ‘revolution’
and ‘evolution’ but in the actual perspective of the choice
between a political movement and
an electoral machine, that we
have to look ,in Britain, at the sit-
uation and condition of the Labour
research institutions’, with three edi- party.”
tors: Edward Thompson, Stuart Hall “ We believe that the Left
and Raymond Williams. The revised should develop its own Socialist
version, building on extended discussion National Plan, moving from an
within a set of specialist working increased solidity of defence to
groups, was edited by Raymond detailed developments and propos-
Williams. The manifesto sought first to als…We reject consensus politics,
analyse social realities within the con- but that necessary hardening
text of the ’new international capitalism must go along with a new flexibili-
and a new kind of imperialism which ty, where the real opposition is
are at the roots not only of the British already formed and forming. We
economic crisis, but of the world politi- look forward to making certain
cal crisis and the realities and dangers specific connections, in campaigns
of war’. The extracts below are taken and in publications. We want to
from the section on ‘Two Meanings of ask members of the major single-
Social Democracy’ and from the final issue campaigns and of the exist-
section on ‘The Politics of the ing organisations of the Labour
Manifesto’. movement to discuss with us and
“It has always been argued that the others the bearings of their own
critical choice, for a socialist, is between urgent work on the whole analysis
a programme of violent change – the we have offered…. We want to
capture of state power – and a pro- connect with what is still strong in
gramme of electoral change – the win- Britain: a democratic practice, a
ning of a majority in parliament. determined humanity, an active
Tactics, values, organisation seem to critical intelligence… What we are
hang on that choice; the shape of a seeking to define is an active
future society is prefigured by the road socialism of the immediately com-
we choose…. Socialists can no longer go ing generation; an emerging politi-
on restricting their view of socialist advance to the achieve- cal process rather than the formalities of a process that is
ment of more powerful Labour majorities in parliament. With already, as democratic practice, beginning to break up and dis-
no other political strategy but the winning of a parliamentary appear. We are looking to the political structure of the rest of
majority, it is as a movement, with its habitual forms of activi- the century, rather than to the forms which now embody the
ty geared solely to the electoral process, acquiescing in the past and confuse recognition of the present. This manifesto is
precise mechanisms which are intended to contain it…. If the a challenge, and it asks for a response.”
Printer ad
4 CHARTIST November/December 2019
301 working_01 cover 26/03/2020 18:38 Page 5
EDITORIAL
Love Socialism, Hate Brexit
arliament has put Boris Johnson in a ditch but education, arts and welfare. Above all cross-national coop-
P
Union.
he is far from dead. Opposition parties led by
Jeremy Corbyn have exposed the hypocrisy and
holes, lies and deceits at the heart of the Prime
Minister’s revamped deal with the European
Significantly it keeps Northern Ireland in the customs
union, with a border in the Irish Sea, something Johnson
eration is the only effective way to deal with corporate tax
dodgers and the climate-environmental emergency.
The threat to Labour is clear. Johnson and co are seek-
ing to rebrand the Tory Party with an end to austerity.
Sajid Javid’s spending review and budget plans are
unashamed electioneering bribes. Dennis Leech explains
that the policies behind the discovery of the magic money
vowed never to do and pushes the DUP under a bus in the tree, so elusive for Theresa May, is based on a number of
process. Furthermore the Withdrawal Agreement Bill economic myths. Labour must expose the inadequacy and
(WAB) removes worker’s rights, consumer protections and hypocrisy of the uncosted promises.
environmental standards from the Treaty, relocating them Extinction Rebellion and student protests have pushed
in the legally non-binding Political Agreement. Labour has the threat of human-made global heating up the agenda.
rightly said this deal is worse than the May deal: this Nigel Doggett takes a closer look at the achievements
brings shame on the 19 Labour MPs who voted for it and and weaknesses of XR.
for an accelerated three day debate. Internationally we have seen protests grow against
As we go to press it looks likely the EU will agree a flex- oppressive regimes. most notably in Hong Kong against a
extension of Article 50. All that stands between Johnson puppet regime under a tyrannical Chinese Communist
and an early general election is his refusal to take no deal Party. Denis Wong explains how the street protests for
off the table. Corbyn is right to insist on this as a precondi- democratic liberties started and why they will continue.
tion. A pre-Christmas election would not be a wise move, Elsewhere Donald Trump’s maverick foreign policy has
better to string Johnson out with scrutiny of every last given a green light for Turkey’s authoritarian President
clause of this zombie government’s WAB, which Erdogan to launch a military assault in
threatens to inflict enormous and unneces- Northern Syria against Kurdish forces.
sary harm on British people. Mary Southcott reports on the conse-
Make no mistake, this is the hard quences with a more detailed histor-
right wing of the Tory party in ical look at the evolution of the
government. As Don Flynn Turkish state since
explains, the expulsion of 21
one-nation Tory MPs repre-
Labour faces a huge Ottomanism.
Labour faces a huge chal-
sents a fundamental shift to a lenge to build support across
national populist regime.
Duncan Bowie’s survey of
challenge to build the UK in the face of
unfavourable opinion polls.
Tory divisions going back to England is split with a
the days of Peel and the
Corn Laws indicates this is
support across the UK in number of Northern and
Midland Labour seats vul-
the most significant split in nerable to rightist populist
the Tory Party in over 100
years,.
the face of unfavourable siren calls. If the Brexit Party
challenges the Tories, Labour
The nationalist populist drum- could reprise the Peterborough
beat against the courts, parlia-
ment and Europe will grow and lies
opinion polls by-election win, but certainly not
in other parts of the UK especially
behind the rise in race hate crime asso- Scotland. Gerry Hassan dissects the
ciated with Brexit supporting Tories. rise of the Scottish National party and the
Hassan Hoque explores the little reported and fall of Labour. The departure of ‘liberal’ Ruth
unchecked growth of Islamophobia inside the Tory Party Davidson damages the Tories prospects but Scottish
where no promised independent inquiry has occurred. Labour needs to embrace a more radical devolution case
Andrew Coates exposes the ideological roots of extreme and keep open the door to a second Indy ref.
right populism which underpin the rise of Farage, Le Pen, Elsewhere Labour has to make its case for an interna-
Salvini, Trump and other authoritarian demagogues. tional recovery programme based on sustainable develop-
Labour’s Brighton conference committed the party to ment—the Green New Deal is a good basis, with invest-
campaign for a People’s Vote, with John McDonnell and ment, taxation and borrowing to fund its ambitious redis-
other shadow ministers speaking out at the million strong tributive programme.
PV march on 19th October. This should now be a priority. A We need to expose the myth of ‘Getting Brexit Done’.
confirmatory vote with a remain alternative is the best way Exit would take years while the British economy sinks
to resolve the impasse and create a clearer space for Labour further under the weight of drawn out negotiations on
to unfold its popular democratic socialist programme for trade deals with the likes of ‘America First’ Trump and
economic, social and environmental recovery after ten years entanglement in new structures for tighter borders and
of Tory austerity, cuts and division. protectionism.
While Peter Kenyon reflects on lessons of the Brexit Labour has an attractive alternative vision of a new
battles, whether a referendum or general election, as society based on equality, social justice, sustainable
Laura Parker and Julie Ward MEP make clear, Labour wealth creation, redistribution from rich to poorer and
must make a positive case for Europe. We are an interna- international cooperation. It’s called democratic socialism.
tionalist party. Unlike the campaign of 2016 our focus must Whether a referendum or General election comes Labour
be on the benefits of working through the EU: benefits for should ready itself to mobilise its half million members
peace and security, benefits for jobs and frictionless trade, and supporters across the labour movement to fight the
benefits for free movement and travel, benefits for science campaign of our lives. The stakes could not be higher.
November/December 2019 CHARTIST 5
301 working_01 cover 26/03/2020 18:38 Page 6
P&C
The Break-up of Britain?
Paul Salveson surveys views of post-Brexit Britain
t’s about Brexit but it’s about ‘us’.
I more. What’s going to
become of the North of
England in the next ten
years? Assuming that
Brexit goes through in some
shape or form, the economy of the
North will take a big hit, and it’s
Why doesn’t this find political
expression, in the way that
Scottish and Welsh grievances
have coalesced into support for
progressive nationalist parties?
The Scottish historian (and pas-
sionate European) Chris Harvie
unlikely to be short term. Some once described English regional-
major companies have already ism as “the dog that never
said they’d up sticks and leave. barked”. Of course, ‘The North of
Replacing those, and the jobs that England’ isn’t a nation, you could
will be lost, with thousands of even argue whether it’s a ‘region’
new, dynamic SMEs seems a bit or an amalgam of three separate
unlikely. A recent Guardian arti- regions (Yorkshire, The North-
cle by Aditya Chakrabortty east and the North-West).
(‘Salvaging the union will need Yorkshire, with perhaps the
imagination – and we’ve lost it’ strongest identity of the three
October 17th) speculated on the regions, has a young but growing
destructive impact of Brexit on ‘Yorkshire Party’ and has a hand-
the integrity of the UK, particu- ful of local councillors. In local
larly through Scottish indepen- elections it typically gets about a
dence. Other commentators have third of the vote, which isn’t bad.
suggested that a united Ireland There is an equivalent in the
will become virtually inevitable, North-East but nothing that aims
and Wales may well follow to represent Lancashire, Cheshire
Scotland’s lead. The assumption and Cumbria. Perhaps there was
that ‘England’ will soldier on, a time that the Labour Party
embattled, alone and increasingly could claim to be ‘the voice of the ty’. In other words, it is created, no
right-wing and isolationist, hos- North’ but that is becoming less ‘nation’ has always been there and
tile to its neighbours, is widely and less the case. many across Europe are quite
shared. The different parts of ‘The new. Many have disappeared or
In much of the debate on Brexit North’ as a whole have much in become parts of different nations,
and ‘the break-up of Britain’, it’s common with each other, willingly or unwillingly (often the
assumed automatically that notwithstanding the myth of latter).
‘England’ will continue as a single Lancashire v Yorkshire antago- Whilst nations often begin as
entity, with perhaps a bit more nism. And it is a myth, played out works of imagination, taking
devolution here and there to ‘city in country cricket and good- decades and sometimes centuries
regions’. Real devolution is not on humoured banter, but not much to emerge as real, existing nations
the Tories’ agenda. else. At the time of the Scottish with a state apparatus, sometimes
The North of England will be independence referendum, there the process can be accelerated by
the biggest losers from Brexit, was much traffic on social media external events, typically wars and
despite having largely voted about ‘the North’ joining with an revolutions but also major shifts
‘leave’ in 2016. The reasons for independent Scotland. It got hun- within existing states. I would
that leave vote were many and dreds of thousands of ‘likes’, argue that the United Kingdom is
complex, not least a deep-rooted though it misses the point. ‘The going through just such a change,
sense of abandonment by an ill- North’ has much in common with albeit a largely non-violent one
defined elite. The decline of the the Scots, but joining an indepen- Paul Salveson’s (putting aside the legacy of the
great traditional industries of the dent Scotland probably isn’t a blog is at Troubles in Ireland).
North, roughly coinciding with sensible approach, even as a www.paulsalveso A distinctly ‘Northern’ conscious-
joining the EU, created a potent debating room topic. For one n.org.uk ness is taking shape which in years
but often unconscious sense of thing, it’s three times as big as to come may find political expres-
grievance which lacked a clear Scotland, in population terms. sion in a party which could have
focus. ‘Europe’ provided it, But – for the long-term – the idea similarities with civic nationalist
encouraged by the rhetoric and of a quasi-independent ‘North of parties within and beyond the UK.
bigotry of the ‘leave’ campaign. England’ may not be quite as fan- As the prospect of a Tory England
Across the North of England ciful as it seems. Put aside the which enshrines free market eco-
there is a tangible sense of ‘vic- jokes (and the potential is mas- nomics with a myopic, isolationist
timhood’. Whether it is lack of sive, e.g. of cloth-capped soldiers approach to the outside world
investment in transport, poor on border patrols) and there could becomes ever more possible, the
health care or the decline of once- be something in it. alternative of a progressive and
great towns, it’s there. The perpe- In his Guardian piece, outward-looking federal Britain
trators of this are sat somewhere Chakrabortty quoted the work of with the North of England working
‘down south’, perhaps in the corri- Benedict Anderson who wrote in with Scotland, Wales, Ireland and
dors of Whitehall and Imagined Communities that the other English regions may become
Westminster. ‘They’ don’t care nation ‘is an imagined communi- increasingly more attractive. C
6 CHARTIST November/December 2019
301 working_01 cover 26/03/2020 18:38 Page 7
GREENWATCH
Green Surge in Central Europe
Dave Toke on hot air and cold air
reens in Switzerland,
G Austria and Germany
have surged in recent
elections and are now
threatening to over-
haul social democratic parties as
the main alternative to conser-
vatism and populist far right par-
ties. The green message of envi-
ronmental protection, with cli-
mate change as a central issue,
gels with the need for an interna-
tionalist narrative of social soli-
darity with others. It is proving to
be an increasingly effective
counter to the xenophobia served
up by populist and right wing
politicians. The two things, global
action to save the planet, and
help for refugees and internation-
al citizenship rights (such as the
EU) are dismissed by Donald German Greens
Trump as ‘globalism’. Yet this
emerging dominant counter-nar- new generation in its auctions for heat suffered by players and spec-
rative of internationalism is pro- contracts to supply the energy. tators – but don’t count on that
viding the right wing with its Meanwhile it is managing to stop being a solution! Writing in GQ
strongest challenge in Europe. solar pv expanding as much as it magazine Jay Willis says:
could by capping contracts for ‘’Few other regions of the globe,
Withdrawal Bill sad story developers well below the number however, have the luxury of being
As the Withdrawal Bill is of people that want to set up solar able to spend billions of dollars to
debated I can but only reproduce farms. On top of this the mitigate climate change's most
a couple of comments about what Government has had a low ambi- dangerous impacts, both present
the prospect is for environmental tion for offshore windfarms. At and future”.
protection. James Murray of this rate Germany’s renewable
Business Green, says of the non- energy sector, which has grown Could Extinction Rebellion put
mention of environmental protec- from very little since the 1990s, Greenpeace in the shade?
tion in the initial draft of the Bill: will be overshadowed in a few Dr David Toke, As the world hots up and
So, no environmental protections years by the UK. What a disgrace Is Reader in Extinction Rebellion (XR) mount
in the bill, no deal as default at that would be considering the Energy Politics, more protests the sheer scale of XR
end of 2020, nothing to stop lacklustre policies pursued by the University of fundraising may be dwarfing
deregulatory blitz from 2021 Conservative Government in the Aberdeen funds that used to go to
onwards besides government's UK! Greenpeace. Left Foot Forward
say so and public pressure. While His latest book is reports that over half a million
Colin Baines adds: ‘It's almost Outdoor air conditioning in Qatar Low Carbon pounds was donated to XR in the
like the gov't that lobbied against The sad state of global warm- Politics, first part of October. Of course the
legally binding renewable energy ing has been illustrated by Routledge (2018) two movements are quite different
targets, recycling targets, energy Qatar’s plans to install air condi- in organisational terms.
efficiency targets, low carbon fuel tioning to cool OUTDOOR tem- Greenpeace is a ‘top-down’ organi-
standards, had to be forced to peratures. The Washington Post sation which won’t be embarrassed
clean up (dirty) beaches, & still has reported that plans are afoot by activists ignoring what the
refuses to clean up the air is a to install air conditioning in mar- majority of Greenpeace supporters
danger to our environment.’ kets and streets. Qatar’s swelter- actually want (as happened when
ing temperatures have risen by some XR people ignored the vote
German renewable energy foul-up around two degrees Celsius in the against disrupting the tube). So
Despite the growth of renew- last century or so. Given that the there we have a choice. Bottom up
able energy in Germany to 47 per air conditioning will be powered has the edge of enthusiasm,
cent of electricity supply in the by oil and gas generation we can whereas top-down has the advan-
first half of 2019, the German see a vicious feed-back loop as tage of being able to put limits on
Government’s policies seem to be more energy is used to cool places its actions more easily. But
holding progress back. New con- down and in turn the energy used Greenpeace also has the advan-
tracts for renewable energy are to power air conditioning needed tage of being able to publish
being given out for very cheap to do this creates emissions which reports and makes statements
prices. However, the Government heat the planet up even further. about what should happen as an
has managed to restrict wind Of course we are waiting for the alternative, Maybe XR can try and
power with planning rules lead- FIFA World Cup in 2022. It is focus a bit more on that in the
ing to only partly filled quotas for being held at night to reduce the future as well as the mobilisations. C
November/December 2019 CHARTIST 7
301 working_01 cover 26/03/2020 18:38 Page 8
TORY TROUBLES
Conservative Party sheds its One-
Nation image
Don Flynn says the Tory wolf of private property is now out
he Conservative Party
T once prided itself as
being the choice for peo-
ple who wanted a ‘safe
pair of hands’ on the
tiller of national government. It
was supposed to be political fellow-
ship that could be trusted to be sen-
sible, moderate, and above all non-
ideological. Belief in the role of
ideas as a force directing the move-
ment of history was something the
left went in for. No respectable per-
son could be expected to muddy
themselves in that mire.
This disdain for philosophical
outlooks was tosh of course. As
Gramsci made plain to anyone
thinking more deeply about these between 140,000 and 180,000 peo- societies (my, those windfalls look
things, the best ideology is one that ple registered in Conservative good!), speculative investors in the
hides itself in plain sight. It con- ranks today. They are not just very assets that now bubbled up across
sists of ideas that are so pervasive different people from the directors the economy, right wing libertari-
across society that they appear of local builders’ firms, managers of ans with a visceral hatred of the
more as an emotional response to the high street banks, and gram- nanny state. In a few words, the
the way we think things ought to be mar school head teachers of chasers after the rents that could be
rather than a process of rational yesteryear. In many ways they extracted from fellow citizens as
reflection. should be seen as the descendants more and more of the life force was
The conservatism of the modern of the people who rose up against drained from the public realm to
Conservative Party had its heyday this old Tory party back in the reappear as something which could
in a Britain where towns and cities 1970s and 1980s, denouncing the only be obtained on a commercial
were clusters of industries and busi- people they had been closest to as contract.
nesses offering something approxi- ‘the establishment’, and who over- Now it rested on representatives
mate to a decent wage for a hard threw them through a series of poli- of a social class for whom greed
day’s work. Local high streets bus- cies that obliterated the social forces equals good, the Conservative Party
tled with grocers, butchers, that had held the old localism could not be anything other than a
newsagents, chemists and chan- together. ‘nasty party’, pushed into ever more
dler’s shops which met the needs of Municipal government lost its right wing, extremist stances by a
households who lived just ten min- local identity during these years as determination to render the whole
utes walk from their weekly shop. it was reduced to a mere conduit for of society as a business opportunity
Outright homelessness was held at implementing national policies for anyone with the wherewithal to
a level where it was more-or-less which required the sale of public make the initial investment.
invisible to most ordinary citizens, assets and a role limited to commis- The ascendency of the caste of
and the blameless poor (widows, sioning the cheapest possible ser- ruthless wannabe Gordon Gekkos
pensioners, the chronically ill) had a vices from private corporations. at least has the effect of laying bare
social welfare system to fall back Bank branches shifted from their the ideological nature of the
on. austere role as the supporters of Conservative Party. This is a politi-
This was a society which provid- ‘sound’ business to profligate dis- cal movement that will go any-
ed the Conservatives with their pensers of the easy credit which where to defend its most fundamen-
formidable cadre – reckoned to later fuelled the debt crisis. The tal principal: that the rule of private
number over a million people in the physical shape of communities property is sacrosanct and its
1950s. Centring on the cheap beer changed in fundamental ways, as preservation is its foremost mission,
served at the local Conservative shops on high streets closed down even if it leads to the evisceration of
Association club, the party was a and even local pubs went into steep the civil society that has sustained
hub for merchants and shopkeep- decline. the liberal and civic values which it
ers, craft conscious tradesmen, reg- Membership of the Conservative claims as being its special endow-
ular attenders at the services of Party dwindled during these years ment to British society.
moderate protestant churches, and as the organisation lost its organic The gloves are off. Politics is
the womenfolk who organised the connection with the communities it increasingly seen as a battle
local fetes and charitable functions. considered itself to be part of. What Don Flynn is ex- between two ideological stances
According to the figures for mem- was left of its husk was thinly popu- Director of Migrant which stand in full opposition to one
bership of the party that were being lated by the true believers of the rights Network & another. The task for Labour is to
quoted during the recent leadership Thatcher revolution. Advocates of Chartist Managing make sure that it comes out on top
contest, there are somewhere the de-mutualisation of building Editor in this battle of ideas. C
8 CHARTIST November/December 2019
301 working_01 cover 26/03/2020 18:38 Page 9
LABOUR & BREXIT
Labouring on
Peter Kenyon highlights lessons to be learned from Brexit in or out
ear Reader – I'm writ- that of the German Bundestag, have felt left out, or ignored by the
D ing this on Saturday
26 October. We know
the EU Council has
agreed a further
extension of Article 50 in principle,
but not for how long. We may have
to wait until Tuesday. We know
where one of the four corner tow-
ers is reserved for the golden stars
on a blue ground. Tales of a lack of
awareness about local facilities in
the UK funded by EU taxpayers
(including we Brits) abound.
We are living in a country in
Westminster government.
If by some parliamentary feat,
the UK is still in when you read
this you won't have to worry about
supplies of essentials – whether
food or medicines for a while
longer. Operation Yellowhammer
the Zombie Government led by political denial about the origins of will have been put on hold again.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson and evolution of what is today the Millions of pounds will have been
plans to table a motion on Monday largest democratically governed wasted on 'preparing for Brexit'
to dissolve Parliament under the international bloc in the world of instead of being invested in social
terms of the Fixed Term which we are/were a full member. care, preventative medicine, hospi-
Parliament Act, which requires a Shouldn't our politicians be proud tal staff and educational budgets.
two-thirds majority to pass, to to be interviewed and pho- But that extension of Article 50
hold an election on 12 December. tographed for domestic political will never make up for the loss of
There are parliamentarians think- purposes against a background of investment in the UK that started
ing through ways of thwarting the both the EU and national flags? in the months leading up to the
Zombies and maybe enabling the How else could our membership EU referendum in 2016. That is
British electorate to decide become embedded in our national when business uncertainty started
whether to Leave the European psyche? its cancerous invasion of the UK
Union or Remain. I could join the So much collectively agreed leg- economy.
speculation. But there will be islation and regulation now shapes The future of UK manufactur-
plenty of that before this edition of our daily lives, and so few of us ing particularly that in overseas
Chartist reaches you. In any event are aware of the benefits. So much ownership has been severely
the matter could actually be decid- has been drowned out by the lies dented, and may never recover
ed, not by 31 October as Johnson of the Brexiteers and Leave cam- without an interventionist Labour
boasted, but not long afterwards. paigners. So next time you go for a government. The absence of a
More interesting, let’s reflect on paddle off Bournemouth Pier just loud clamour from the Labour
a few of the key lessons to be remember the absence of sewage Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn
learned for the future – in or out. floating in the sea is in part declaiming the insanity of the
My hope is that the issue of our thanks to the EU and the blue flag Brexiteers' aims poses a real
future membership remains to be scheme – gettit blue flag. Those handicap for Labour's electoral
decided. What is inescapable is a who could afford a holiday in one prospects. And that assumes that
widespread and profound igno- of the other EU states might be there will be a 'deal' to leave. As
rance among the electorate about aware that you don't have to clean Peter Kenyon is a for the future, if the UK is negoti-
our relationships with the other your teeth in bottled water, just member of ating from outside the EU, we
member states of the European turn on the tap – water quality Chartist EB and will all have to wait a long time
Union built up over the last 45 standards are regulated across the City of London before a new trading relationship
years. Travelling round the EU, I EU. Then there is the EU regional CLP is defined. In any event, if the
never cease to marvel at the dis- aid and investment that has been Zombie Government is not defeat-
play of the EU flag alongside the allocated to the most deprived ed, we can only look forward to a
national and local flag of the town areas of the UK for decades, in an very much poorer future, cultural-
or city I am visiting. Most vivid is attempt to aid those people who ly, politically and economically. C
November/December 2019 CHARTIST 9
301 working_01 cover 26/03/2020 18:38 Page 10
SPENDING REVIEW
Tories scrap their own rules in
election bribe
Dennis Leech argues Sajid Javid has demonstrated that austerity was a political choice
not an economic requirement
n his autumn spending money circulates and spending by
I review on 9 September the
Chancellor Sajid Javid
announced that the govern-
ment was “turning the page
on austerity and beginning a new
decade of renewal.” He has backed
up his words with extra spending
one person is income for others.
Income received by any household
is spending by others. So when an
austerity government cuts its bud-
get, income is lost by its employees
and suppliers, which forces them
to cut back, reducing the income of
commitments and ripped up the their suppliers, and so on. Hence
fiscal rules that he inherited from both public and private sector
his predecessor. It was a radical household incomes are reduced
statement in preparation for a pre- with a resulting fall in gross
election radical budget. domestic product.
He claimed he can do this A report by the New Economics
because the austerity programme, Foundation published in February
that George Osborne instituted in found that, using figures from the
2010, has been a success in laying Office of Budget Responsibility and
the foundations of a stronger econ- the Institute for Fiscal Studies, it
omy. But in fact he is planning a was possible to estimate the size of
political spending splurge intended this effect in terms of lost output
to outflank Labour that has noth- resulting from Osborne’s austerity
ing to do with good economic man- regime: it has resulted in slower
agement. growth in every year since 2010. It Sajid Javid announces his spending review
Osborne’s policy was to reduce estimated the true cost of nine
both the fiscal deficit and the years of austerity budgets. It found Every loan has a lender as well as a
national debt by cutting spending a cumulative loss of output of £100 borrower. For every debt there is a
on health, education, housing, local billion per year. That is, 5% of GDP, corresponding asset. Government
council services and so on. The totaling £3629 per household, or borrows by selling gilt edged securi-
result has been misery for millions £1495 per person annually in ties. So if government borrows more
who rely on public services or ben- reduced living standards. there is an equal increase in private
efits with underfunded schools and ‘Expansionary austerity’ was wealth as people hold more govern-
hospitals and a rise in homeless- never going to work; it has been ment bonds.
ness. tried and failed many times in the Therefore debt is a transaction
The idea was that austerity past. Essentially the Tory adminis- within a generation: government
would be expansionary: eliminat- trations have repeated the mis- borrowing is owed to private indi-
ing the so called structural deficit, takes of the 1920s when govern- viduals in society. Government debt
and getting government debt ments prioritised balancing budgets cannot be passed down to the next
falling as a percentage of GDP, cre- in the name of sound money, with generation without also passing the
ating space for the private sector to dire consequences for the lives of corresponding assets in the form of
flourish. But it was all based on a millions of citizens. bonds. The issue of the burden of
series of myths. Myth two: ‘deficit and debt can debt is a distributional question
Myth one: ‘the government is be reduced by government spend- between people in the same genera-
like a household, only bigger’. ing’. Austerity policies are often tion and not one of intergenera-
Osborne used graphic language counterproductive because of their tional fairness.
around this analogy, with phrases effect on GDP. The burden of debt - Myth four: ‘government spending
like “Britain can only spend what the ratio of debt to GDP - can crowds out private investment and
it can afford.”, “we have maxed out increase because they cut the thus hampers growth’. This is only
our national credit card”. It is obvi- income as well as the debt. This is true if the economy is at full capaci-
ous that a household cannot spend most especially likely to happen ty working which has not been the
more than its income, and if it when there is spare capacity, evi- case for many years. When there is
finds itself with debt that it has to denced by involuntary unemploy- spare capacity there are unused
repay it must economise. An ment or underemployment. So the Dennis Leech is resources available that can be put
indebted household must either effect of austerity on the deficit or Emeritus to work by private investment.
cut its spending or increase its the debt burden is ambiguous. This professor of By breaking and not replacing
income; then its debt will fall is why the debt has not come down Economics, the fiscal rules derived from think-
unambiguously. as a percentage of GDP and has University of ing based on these myths, Sajid
But it is not like that for a gov- contributed to the slow recovery Warwick & a Javid has demonstrated the truth
ernment because the aggregate from the crash of 2008. member of of the aphorism that austerity is a
income of society is affected by its Myth three: ‘debt is a burden Bethnal Green & political project not an economic
spending. The reason is that passed down to future generations’. Bow CLP necessity. C
10 CHARTIST November/December 2019301 working_01 cover 26/03/2020 18:38 Page 11
EXTINCTION REBELLION
Should Extinction Rebellion (XR)
switch tracks?
Nigel Doggett on the strengths and weakness of the XR campaign
his autumn’s XR climate same dilemmas in achieving sustain-
T campaign action story
has had a stunning
impact, but the tactics of
some supporters sparked
bitter disagreements and jeopar-
dized wide public support, notably
actions hitting commuters from
able (in both senses) wholesale
change remain. It is a staple of
democratic left politics that neither
parliamentary/governmental nor
grassroots action can transform soci-
ety: they must complement and
enable each other.
poorer London districts on the very None of his examples of successful
public transport systems that are non-violent direct action from East
part of the solution. It remains to be Germany in 1989, Alabama in 1963
seen whether it can shed its largely and Nepal in 2005, nor other oft-
privileged white image. cited cases from Mahatma Gandhi
While the climate strikers led by and Martin Luther King to more
Greta Thunberg demand that politi- recent movements in the Middle Extinction Rebellion protest
cians listen to the science and act, East and Eastern Europe are compa-
XR is following a strategy applying rable to the climate emergency. They government. It’s doubtful if they
past non-violent action experiences all faced discredited and repressive could (or should) replace the current
to the unfolding emergency, as set regimes, and none had to move so system, however flawed it is. Clearly
out in the book Common Sense for fast on so many fronts as we need even a committed government would
the 21st Century by XR’s co-founder now. Hallam attributes direct action need popular pressure to overcome
Roger Hallam. at Kings College by himself and oth- fossil fuel interests, but so would any
The XR protests have galvanized ers as the cause of agreement to dis- new regime; it is inconceivable that a
people and pushed the Overton win- invest from fossil fuels. However, nascent citizens’ assembly could
dow, the range of ideas that are numerous other institutions are dis- manage this. It would be foolish to
openly discussed in public debate. investing, including most recently ignore the democratic legitimacy of
But we need to achieve results and University College London, under Parliament, regional Governments
Hallam acknowledges that while sustained criticism and pressure and many local authorities who have
the chances of success are limited, more than disruptive action. In the declared a Climate Emergency. We
we must not give up. Unfortunately heart of capitalism, maybe recent should instead be pressurizing all
his underlying analysis is confused warnings by the likes of the institutions (and people) to live up to
and open to criticism, even from Governor of the Bank of England are their rhetoric.
those who share his objectives. a greater influence than he admits. Hallam even proposes the
Climate change is deemed a XR demands the UK government: Citizens’ Assembly go beyond
‘wicked’ problem due to its multi- 1. Tell the truth by declaring ‘Legislation to transform the econo-
dimensional and multi-level nature, a climate and ecological emergency; my and society to respond to the exis-
so transition studies stress action at 2. Act now to halt biodiversity tential climate and ecological emer-
many levels and arenas, including loss and reduce greenhouse gas gency’ to draw up ‘other social legisla-
city initiatives, local government, emissions to net zero by 2025 tion which follows the will of the
the transition towns movement and 3. Create and be led by [my assembly rather than the former
voluntary organizations. But emphasis] a National Citizens’ political class’ and ‘a new constitu-
Hallam seizes on the failures of cen- Assembly on climate and ecological tional settlement which creates a
tral government, understating the justice. genuine participatory democracy…’
role of diverse civil society groups to Hallam argues that the current He doesn’t say whether it will require
sustain and deepen the transition. regime has lost legitimacy by its fail- 9 to 5 on weekdays or the full 24/7 to
(Two positive examples among ure to act; and principled non-violent surmount three such daunting chal-
many I would set against the nega- campaigns can gain such legitimacy lenges!
tives: the website BusinessGreen through citizens’ assemblies. But the XR has grown meteorically in the
highlights numerous initiatives to role of such a new body could raise last six months, picking up aca-
shrink companies’ carbon footprints more problems than it solved. It demics, lawyers and celebrities
that are necessary whatever their would face political challenges as among thousands of people from all
form of ownership or control; and a dependent on technocratic, arguably walks of life, including environmental
sea change is underway in many partisan, advice and lacking repre- lawyer Farhana Yamin, who has
trade unions who see the time is up sentativeness and legitimacy, there- For details, joined after experience of the limita-
for old carbon-based technologies.) by risking diverting attention from including a free tions of climate negotiations including
Hallam believes that as reform the problem in hand. downloadable pdf the 2015 Paris COP. Its strategy is
(defined as progress in small incre- Climate assemblies such as in the option, see likely to evolve accordingly. Success in
mental steps) has failed we need a London Borough of Camden are a RogerHallam.com forcing the necessary changes will
‘revolution’ (albeit peaceful and non- useful innovation in the formulation require a society wide mobilization on
Leninist). This risks lapsing into of principles, building popular con- Nigel Doggett is a the scale of a world war, and to be
semantics, and failure so far does sent and initiating local actions in member of Chartist effective XR must avoid both rhetori-
preclude real reform. Besides, the tandem with the levers of democratic EB cal and programmatic excesses. C
November/December 2019 CHARTIST 11301 working_01 cover 26/03/2020 18:38 Page 12
BREXIT
Our future lies through Europe
Laura Parker looks at the history of Britain’s chequered relationship with Europe and says
remain and reform must be at the heart of Labour’s manifesto offer
ince joining what was
S then the EEC in 1973
the UK, including
British Labour, has
been very ambivalent
towards ‘Europe’. This stems
from a profound historical reason,
namely that the EU was not ‘our’
creation. It is seen as an expan-
sion of the Napoleonic administra-
tive structures which are different
from the British. There is an apoc-
ryphal quote from a senior diplo-
mat at the time of the establish-
ment of the first pan European
structures in the 1950s that a
European Union is a terrible idea,
that it won’t get anywhere and if
it did, it would not last...
The formative period of the
Common Market and what has
since become the EU coincided
with British decolonisation. Anti-Brexit demo on October 19
British governments had that in
their focus rather than Europe. ple propose, that out of the ashes To win a general election we
But despite that focus for the left, of the UK’s exit from the have to have and clearly present
the world continued to turn and European Union, socialism will a positive vision of a radically
we have needed to update our arise phoenix like is clearly unre- transformed society - in which
position. Through engagement alistic in almost any circum- power as well as wealth are dis-
with the EU we can take the mas- stances - and impossible to imag- tributed. In the policy agenda
sive opportunities to tackle tax ine if our exit from the EU is which he has been fleshing out
evasion and transnational corpo- under the management of a since the 2017 general election,
rate power. We can only really be Johnson-led reactionary Tory gov- we can see the scale of ambition of
effective against the Googles and ernment, as appears may still be John McDonnell in this regard:
Facebooks of the world with taxa- the case at the time of writing. plans for massive regional invest-
tion at multi-national levels. ment; the promotion of in-sourc-
Similarly with the climate emer- ing for local government, helping
gency: action is needed at a pan- There is now a clear to regenerate local communities
European and global level. whilst putting an end to the profit
Attempts to deal with a crisis of route through to before people philosophy of pri-
this magnitude at the level of the
nation state simply makes no
Remain, but we need a vate outsourcers; a clamp down on
tax evasion and avoidance and
sense. clear message to convey more.
The downside of the EU is that If we can get our messages out
we have seen the dominance of
this on the doorstep there, we can win.
neo-liberalism, enshrined in the The big problem is that
Maastricht Euro criteria. But On immigration we have got to between us and the people is a
these are the creation of the be more honest with people about media and establishment which
Member States and a reflection of what is really going on. I’m we have to take on.
the politics of the individual pleased that at this year’s Labour In terms of Europe, we need a
Member States - not an inherent Party Conference a far more pro- commitment to remain, reform
inevitability. gressive policy motion was passed, and transform in our manifesto.
There are those who say we including a commitment to free- Obviously, this is a debate which
can’t implement a socialist pro- dom of movement. will continue within the Party:
gramme because of the The 2016 Referendum vote was Conference was clear that Labour
Maastricht Treaty. This is not the in many ways a result of a lack of is now fully committed to a public
case. There are of course areas empowerment, the consequences vote, a second referendum, as the
where reform is needed. But to of Thatcherite deindustrialisation, only way to resolve the Brexit cri-
take one frequently cited example, devastating working class areas, sis, but no decision has yet been
of public ownership: look at the and globalisation which has left made about the position Labour
state owned rail across numerous many communities impoverished would take in that second referen-
European states. National owner- and feeling neglected. Laura Parker is dum.
ship can happen and it does. The Corbyn project must find a Momentum’s What is abundantly clear, and
Other Lexit arguments are way of dealing with these beliefs National we should be saying more fre-
disingenuous. The idea some peo- and connecting to these people. Coordinator quently and loudly, is that under
12 CHARTIST November/December 2019301 working_01 cover 26/03/2020 18:38 Page 13
the Tories, we have had three ble. This was seen in the negotia-
totally wasted years. Had Jeremy tions earlier this year, which it
Corbyn been Prime Minister after was right for Jeremy and his
Brexit, he would have gone to the team to participate in.
EU with a clear position, with Corbyn himself has not been
already well established relation- given enough credit for stopping
ships with European leaders, and Brexit to date. There has been a
with Keir Starmer, who knows lot of facile and banal commen-
what he is doing. Instead we have tary over the past three years
had high-handed arrogance from blaming Labour. But it is the
our Prime Ministers and a series Tories who have blocked real
of utterly incompetent Tory Brexit progress and Labour who have
secretaries who have had no idea ensured that we have not already
what they want or how to negoti- been landed with a damaging
ate. Tory Brexit. It is Labour which
Our ‘divorce’ from the EU is can now stop a catastrophic no
inevitably a hugely complex pro- deal - and I hope that all Labour
cess. As the fifth biggest economy MPs will support the leadership
in the world, obviously the process in doing this.
of disentangling the UK from the Campaigners have to build on
EU is going to be very complicat- our remain position. We have to
ed. The UK economy is massively defend the Labour party position
intertwined with that of Europe. and seek to build real alliances
No one explained this properly in across the party. We should also
2016. People adopted ideological be setting out the difference
positions quite without reference which staying in, and working to
to any practical considerations. reform, the EU could make for
Now we need a radically differ- British people.
ent approach from 2016 if there is The Party of European
another referendum. We can’t Socialists in the European
have ‘Remain HQ’ in central Marching for Remain on PV demo October 19 Parliament has a comprehensive
London, stuffed with white middle range of policies related to work-
class men churning out press rule takers and not rule makers ers rights which a Labour govern-
releases about GDP. We need to which would be desperately dam- ment could champion, including
put front and centre the woman aging. Many of those who voted to scrapping zero hours contracts
from Manchester Trade Council leave in 2016 were voting for across the EU and ensuring that
voicing the concerns of working more control; with a Norway-like all wage under-cutting is brought
people about their issues - jobs deal, we will get the opposite. to an end.
and pay, rights at work, family Since 2016 far too much debate Our recent adoption of the
security, community matters, has been played out in the media Green New Deal policy is a great
environmental clean-up, water but not in communities. We example of how with a Labour
quality. We don’t need a campaign should have purposefully taken government in the EU, we could
based on fear and threats but a promote more radical pan-
strategy that educates, informs European policies - on infrastruc-
and provides a positive vision for The Green New Deal ture, green business creation,
a future with our European policy is a great example ambitious environment targets -
friends and neighbours which would have tangible
There is now a clear route of how we could promote impacts in terms of levels of
through to Remain, but we need a investment and job creation - and
clear message to convey this on
more radical pan- also demonstrate UK leadership
the doorstep. I very much wel- European policies in the EU, over time helping peo-
comed the statement Jeremy ple embrace more positively
Corbyn made at Conference, Europe as something we are an
delivered with total clarity and the wider debate out into the active part of, rather than some-
conviction, that Labour is fully party and the country, trying to thing done to us.
behind a public vote and option understand more why people The truth is that whenever it
to remain. As Jeremy himself made the choices they did and and if it comes, any second refer-
said, this is not that complicated. making the case for Europe. We endum is going to be difficult to
It is now also absolutely clear didn’t do the hard yards. win. Sequencing is not as big an
that Labour is the only party Meanwhile positions have issue as deciding our policy.
adopting a position which gen- hardened. The initial compromise There are limits to how effective
uinely can bring the country was right—to argue for a soft we can be in a General election
together, whilst the Tories have Brexit, a deal which would have with our current position, for all
been pushing their extreme been a reasonable reflection of that I applaud its basic intent -
Brexit and playing with people’s the very close referendum result, which is to enable Labour to
futures through championing a which large numbers of those who speak to people however they
destructive no deal and the Lib voted to remain, as well as those voted in 2016. However, without
Dems prepared to turn their who voted to leave, would have committing clearly to Remain and
backs on the 52% who voted leave accepted. That option was blown reform all the evidence is that we
through championing a parlia- out of the water by May, with her will lose more votes from Labour
mentary revoke of Article 50. hard red lines, and has now been Remain supporters than we will
I am concerned that we do not compounded by Johnson, making gain from Labour Leave voters.
adopt the position that we will be any cross party approach impossi- The key is having a clear position.
November/December 2019 CHARTIST 13You can also read
