Part
1
Daniel Morley discusses the bold
measures needed to ensure that the policies outlined in Corbyn's
recent speech to Labour conference are realised in practice.
Like the Labour Party manifesto at
the most recent general election, Corbyn’s closing speech to the
Labour conference last week has electrified the party, his
supporters, and the Left in general by pushing the tone and policies
significantly further to the left.
The programme and ideas outlined
in this speech represent the boldest, most left-wing intervention in
mainstream British politics in decades. What’s more, it carries
with it the promise of implementation, since Labour look on course to
win any upcoming general election.
For socialists, this represents
the opportunity of a lifetime. We cannot let this chance to transform
society slip through our fingers. It is imperative that all
socialists fight for a Corbyn-led Labour government.
But that is only the beginning. We
mustn’t be so naive as to think that all we must do is get Corbyn
into Number 10. This much-welcomed programme of nationalisation,
social housing construction, and universal free education threatens
the privileges and power of the British ruling class, who have done
nothing but demonstrate their intense hostility towards Corbyn ever
since his name first got on the ballot.
Much of the speech, meanwhile,
rightly pointed out that British capitalism has woefully low rates of
investment, which has led to deindustrialisation and low-wage,
insecure jobs. Behind many of the policy announcements, then, lies
the promise of much more investment, and with it the threat (to big
business and the banks) of higher taxes, more regulation, and public
ownership.
We can therefore expect all kinds
of sabotage to this programme and Corbyn’s government should it be
elected.
The vital question therefore is:
how can we ensure that this programme is implemented? How should
socialists fight for these policies against the opposition of big
business and the Establishment?
Source:
Comments
Post a Comment