Debate – Page 6

26 June 201628 June 2016

After working people vote to leave the EU let’s shape the future

There are moments in political life when those who rule society are exposed. These moments reveal how removed and disconnected they are from the mass of people who they seek to rule over. The outcome of the European Union (EU) referendum is one of them.

Fifty-two percent of the population voted to leave the EU. This is despite the vast majority of the employers, MPs and mainstream political parties campaigning to remain in the EU. Those who voted to remain are understandably fearful of the future as they see Farage being paraded around TV studios gloating over the result.

Cameron said that he would call the referendum in the run up to last year’s General Election as an attempt to keep his right flank in the Tory party on board. Probably not the wisest tactical move ever made! By calling the referendum not only has he opened up the old wounds within the Tory party to such an extent it is difficult to see, in the short to medium term, how they can be healed but also he has opened the door to the possible destruction of the European Union.

What the referendum campaign has also done is politicised society. 72% of the population, around 35 million people, voted. The establishment, who bemoan the fact that working class people do not bother to turn out to vote in general elections, are now castigating the working class for using the referendum to show their rage at an establishment that has wrecked their lives.

Corbyn, the Labour Party and working class resistance

It is a disgrace that the first thing that some Labour MPs have done after such a momentous event has been to turn their fire, not on the Tories, but on Jeremy Corbyn. The idea that Margaret Hodge, Yvette Cooper, Hillary Benn or any of the Blairites would be more able to reconnect the LP to its working class base is laughable.

Inside or outside the Labour Party we must do all we can to defend Corbyn from any attempt to oust him from the leadership of the Labour Party. The petition launched by twelve General Secretaries in support of Corbyn is one we should ensure is sent round to all our members. Corbyn must continue to throw his weight behind building the movements against austerity and he must call for a general election now.

Elsewhere I have argued that it was a serious mistake that Corbyn decided to join the Remain campaign. Some of us warned Corbyn that by failing to provide an independent left case for exit the working class in Labour’s heartlands would be left to the racist populism of Farage to give voice to their concerns. If Corbyn and McDonnell had spearheaded a left exit campaign, speaking at rallies up and down the country, tens of thousands would have joined, and we would be further down the road to providing a real alternative to the racist little Englanders.

A working class revolt

Let us not mistake the nature of what took place on Friday 24^th June 2016; it was a revolt by the working class against an elite they perceive to be responsible for the destruction of their communities.

But like any political revolt that leads to a political crisis, it is never pure. It is not the case that one set of people line up on one side under the banner of ‘anti–corporate, anti-racism and for equality’ whilst the other side line up under the banner of ‘reaction’.

People entering into social movements against the system for the first time carry with them contradictory ideas; anti-corporate and anti-immigrant. As a leading Russian Revolutionary once warned, ‘Whoever expects a “pure” social revolution will never live to see it.’

Those of us who aim to build movements to defend our communities from the wrecking ball policies of government need to understand that people will hold contradictory ideas and that these contradictions have the potential to be overcome when working people continue to play an active part in shaping their destinies.

As financial markets collapse and there is panic and despair amongst the ruling elite sparked by the revolt of working people we must resist the lure of being pulled into this despair. We rightly, year after year, denounce a system that creates poverty and inequality. When it starts to fall to pieces, because ordinary people flex their muscles, it is not down to us to run to its aid to keep it alive so that we can continue to reform it.

Our task is to build a bigger and stronger movement that can provide an alternative to their divisive and destructive system of inequality and despair.

Was racism the reason why people voted to leave?

Already one of the central explanations that has been offered as to why working class people voted to leave the EU is because of their deep seated racism. The official Leave campaign led by Gove, Johnson and Farage, as well as the Remain campaign, used anti-immigrant racism to win people to their cause. But the majority of working class people who voted to leave are not racists.

The three towns outside of London where the “White British” population is a minority produced large Leave votes.

In Luton 45 percent of the population is “White British”—it voted Leave by 56.5 percent on a 66.2 percent turnout. In Slough 34.52 percent of the population is “White British”—people there also voted Leave by 54 percent on a 62.1 percent turnout. Similarly, in Leicester 45 percent of population are “White British”, and 48.9 percent voted for Leave on a 65 percent turnout.

Although people in London backed Remain more strongly, leave still had strong support among working class people in the capital.

For example, in Newham 47 percent of people voted Leave. The east London borough is one of the poorest and most multicultural boroughs in London, with only 17 percent of the population being “White British”.

The point here is not to ignore or deny the impact the official Remain and Leave campaigns of racism had on turning some people’s fears against immigrants, particularly Leave supporters. But to show that an explanation that starts from all those who voted to leave are racist bigots does not grasp the contradictory nature of the vote and the anti-austerity rage that lay at is heart.

Make our 5^th July a day to remember

However we voted we now need to unite (see UCU NEC statement below) to continue to build a movement that offers hope. The first opportunity we have to do this is on the 5^th July when hundreds of thousands of teachers will be taking strike action in defence of working class education. This strike takes on even more significance. It will be the first opportunity to demonstrate the unity and strength of the anti-austerity movement in the aftermath of the EU referendum vote.

UCU members in around twenty universities will also be taking strike action on that day. We need to drill this strike down into every community inviting parents and their families to join us on the rallies and demonstrations. At every rally a migrant worker should be invited to speak. Those in work who cannot make the lunchtime protest should organise their own one at work to demonstrate their solidarity with the defence of working class education.

Their system is in disarray. Neither side of the debate have answers to the poverty and pain that working people are suffering except to heap more pain and misery onto our communities. The best response to protect our futures is to do all we can to make sure that 5^th July is a mass demonstration of working class unity that has at it’s core equality for all.

Sean Vernell UCU NEC ( PC)

UCU NEC statement:

The vote to leave the EU has created a political earthquake

The referendum was marred by disgraceful racism and scaremongering over immigration by figures on both sides of the official campaigns and of course by the tragic death of Jo Cox MP.
However millions of people have voted to leave the EU as a direct result of years of austerity and economic decline.

The UCU rejects any attempt to use the ‘Leave’ vote to impose further austerity measures. Post 16 education is already under attack, we will fight any attempt at further cuts as a result of the referendum.

We will determinedly oppose any attempt by politicians to use the vote to restrict the rights of migrant workers and refugees and reaffirm our Congress commitment to supporting EU students and staff in UK institutions.

On 5 July teachers will be striking against attacks on education and will be joined by our members in HE who have elected to strike on that day. We will mobilise as a union to back their strikes and protests on the day.

We support the mobilisation called by the People’s Assembly against austerity at the Tory Party conference on 2 October.

Below is a joint press statement from the leaders of the biggest trade unions in the UK backing Jeremy Corbyn. There is also a petition of confidence in him that already gained over 133,000 signatures within 24 hours of its launch.

A statement from union leaders backing Jeremy Corbyn to continue as Labour leader.

The Prime Minister’s resignation has triggered a Tory leadership crisis. At the very time we need politicians to come together for the common good, the Tory party is plunging into a period of argument and infighting. In the absence of a government that puts the people first Labour must unite as a source of national stability and unity.

It should focus on speaking up for jobs and workers’ rights under threat, and on challenging any attempt to use the referendum result to introduce a more right-wing Tory government by the backdoor.

The last thing Labour needs is a manufactured leadership row of its own in the midst of this crisis and we call upon all Labour MPs not to engage in any such indulgence.

Len McCluskey, General Secretary, Unite the Union

Dave Prentis, General Secretary, UNISON

Tim Roache, General Secretary, GMB

Dave Ward, General Secretary, CWU

Brian Rye, Acting General Secretary, UCATT

Manuel Cortes, General Secretary, TSSA

Mick Whelan, General Secretary, ASLEF

Matt Wrack, General Secretary, FBU

John Smith, General Secretary, Musicians’ Union

Gerry Morrissey, General Secretary, BECTU

Ronnie Draper, General Secretary, BFAWU

Chris Kitchen, General Secretary, NUM

13 June 201614 June 2016

Whoever wins the EU referendum, working class people will be faced with a renewed offensive on their living standards.

Two weeks to go to decide if Britain should remain in or leave the European Union (EU). Most UCU members in my workplace seem to favour remaining in the EU. Many cite the virulently racist nature of the leave campaign as justification to vote to remain. For many the thought of Boris Johnson, who is increasingly morphing into Donald Trump, leading the country is a frightening one.

Whilst I too share these fears I don’t except that the Remain campaign led by Cameron et al is less racist or less dangerous to working people. In fact the reason why I support leaving the EU is because every anti-racist and anti-austerity campaigner would be faced with a far more confident Cameron after a victorious vote to remain, itching to push through his privatising agenda.

The idea that Cameron is less of a racist compared to IDS or Johnson doesn’t match up to his history. Throughout his premiership he has continually played the race card. It was only a few months ago that he was blaming Muslim women for not ‘integrating’ and accepting ‘British values’. It is Cameron who has been at the forefront of attacking the welfare state, driving down living standards and cutting the benefits of some of the most vulnerable in society.

Is the European Union more progressive?

The fear of being accused of being a ‘little Englander’ has lured many of those on the left to come in behind the Remain campaign believing it to be a more of an internationalist position to take. But we only have to look at what is happening in the Mediterranean and the murder of refugees fleeing the impact of European backed imperial wars to see that Europe is not a frontier for liberation but a fortress Europe, blocking entry to those who desperately need help.

Greece also shows the true face of the pro-austerity core of the European Union. The Troika doing the bidding of the IMF and European bankers imposed a ‘structural adjustment’ programme on Greece reminiscent of that the IMF imposed on Zimbabwe in the early 1980s with the same inevitable consequences; devastating attacks on the Greece working class.

The ruling elite are evenly split over remaining in or leaving the European Union. At the heart of the argument lies a debate about the best way to reverse the historic decline of British capitalism, a decline that can be traced from the early 20th century as Britain lost control of its vast empire and Germany and the US became the economic powerhouses in Europe and across the globe.

In the 1950s the argument was between those who believed that they had to integrate with Western Europe to reverse this decline on the one hand, and those who believed Britain could continue to go it alone on the other. In the 1960s/70s it was between those employers who saw Europe as their key market in contrast to a minority who had their main investments in the US, where Britain was and is the largest overseas investor.

It is this concern, making British capitalism profitable and a player on the world economic scene, that drives the EU debate today.

It is out of these concerns that a European Union has emerged. A EU that is about driving forward the competitive interests of multinational companies and the financial sectors that support them. This comes with all the necessary measures intrinsic to the development of capitalist states; the ratcheting up of the rate of exploitation of working people through driving down living conditions and wages (ie an austerity programme), the support and financing of imperialist wars in the Middle East and Eastern Europe and the use of racism to divide the peoples of Europe though blocking the free movement of refugees.

Cameron, Johnson and Farage; the racists can be stopped.

It is the fear of racism that motivates many on the left to look for the lesser of two evils and leads many to support remaining in the EU. However both sides of the campaign have raised the level of racist hysteria around the issue of immigration to new heights. There seems to be unnecessary pessimism about the reasons why many working class people, according to the polls, will be supporting exit. It is not because they are all racists. Antonio Gramsci, the Italian Marxist, used the phrase ‘dual consciousness’ to explain how working people can hold contradictory ideas.

It would be a mistake to assume that either people are all racist or anti-racist. Life would be very easy for those of us who are in the business of winning people to challenging government attacks if this were the case. We would simply need to identify those who were anti-racist and join them. But we have all met people who are furious at the unjust nature of society. At the way the 1% take all the wealth that the 99% produce and at the same time hold the belief that immigrants are in some way to blame for their increasing immiseration. With the continual bombardment of anti-immigrant propaganda and being passive in the face of the barrage of attacks on their lives, many will feel that the anti-immigrant lies provide an explanation for their predicament.

This is why I think it is a mistake that Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell have not stuck with their previously held belief that the European Union is a bosses’ club and that we should leave. If they had done so they would have be able to provide an internationalist case for leaving the EU. They would have been able to connect with those working class people who are enraged by the austerity agenda of the government and at the same time challenges the lies about immigrants.

The danger is that by not providing an independent internationalist Leave position to that of the two main leave and remain camps it can play into the hands of Farage allowing him to pose as the person who speaks for the ‘working class bloke down the pub’.

The centre cannot hold

Leave or remain, neither side of the employers have a solution to the economic crisis ushered in by the financial crash of 2008 let alone the historic decline of British capitalism. The splits in the Tory party reflect the deep divisions amongst the employers. They might seem that they are at each other’s throats (and indeed they do have a deep loathing for one another) but they are united by one key issue – any ‘recovery’ must not be at the expense of big business or the financial sector – it must be sucked out of those who work or who survive through living on benefits.

In the aftermath of the 1st World War the Irish poet William Butler Yeats penned the poem The Second Coming in which he warned that ‘the centre cannot hold’. Indeed to borrow from another Marxist thinker, Eric Hobsbawm, we live in ‘an age of extremes’. As the main political parties over a thirty year period rushed to the centre ground of politics across Europe and the US they have lost their purchase on the working class. Their politicians are seen as corrupt and out of touch with the concerns of ordinary people. From right to left we see new political representatives who claim that they speak for the poor and the oppressed. The more far sighted sections of the employing class will be having real fears about this and will be weighing up how best to protect their interests – either by lurching to the right or to the left – to ride the blows that are coming their way.

In or out the antidote is to unite and fight

The fall out of the referendum will be a significant political crisis for the government. Rumours are spreading fast that a snap general election may be called, possibly as early as Christmas. Therefore the day after the vote, in or out, the anti-austerity movement must continue to unite to defend living standards and against more privatisation if it is able to shape the direction of the struggle.

The best antidote to whichever racist wins the referendum will be to get onto the streets as soon as possible to show that a united working class, that is black, white, migrant, men, women, disabled and LGBT will not be divided.

As we head towards the end of the academic year many UCU members in HE will be striking alongside the NUT. UCU and the NUS have agreed to call a national demonstration at the beginning of the autumn term. And more possibilities for coordinated action across the education sector in the first ever cradle to the grave strike to defend working class education is becoming a real possibility.

The first show of this unity whatever side you are on the in/out debate will come just two days before the vote itself. The convoy to Calais on the 18th June will see tens of thousands uniting around the slogan ‘Refugees are welcome here’. Both Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell will be speaking in London seeing the convoy off.

Let’s make sure this day is a demonstration of working class unity based upon a real internationalism.

by Sean Vernell, NEC London Region (pc)