Workers' Fight workplace bulletin editorials - 26 April 2017

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Workers' Fight workplace bulletin editorials
26 April 2017

The political establishment has now switched to election mode.  Between the May local elections and the June general election, we'll have 6 weeks of electioneering, fake promises - and hot air.
    Is there any stake in these ballots?  For May and her party, yes, of course.  She never had a mandate for Brexit:  the support of 38% of all registered voters in the referendum did not express "the will of the people", and even less so, given the lies which underpinned the Leave campaign.
    So now comes May's blackmail: she says we have to strengthen her hand in her Brexit horse-trading and if we don't, "we" will get a "bad deal".  But this is just another lie.  The truth is that  whatever the terms of her deal with the EU, it will be a "bad deal" for us, because of the huge bill attached that we will be expected to pay!
    So, no!  It cannot be in our interests to give this government any support whatsoever.  Doing so would be to endorse the Brexiters' irresponsibility and to agree in advance to foot the bill.  The whole Brexit affair was stage-managed from beginning to end by politicians whose only concern was to preserve their own careers in their on-going political rivalries.  Their cynical overbidding lured voters into believing that Brexit would change things for the better.  But, of course, it did not, will not and could not!  So, now, it's time for these politicians and their capitalist masters to pay for the mess they've created.  And the last thing we should do is sign a blank cheque by giving them our votes!
    Today, the disgusting nationalist overbidding which marked the referendum campaign is coming back again.  We are told by May that we must "come together as a nation".  Together?  With the British capitalists who live a parasitic life on our labour, with their ever-increasing wealth, while the poor are getting poorer than ever?  No!  We have nothing in common with our exploiters - they are our class enemies.
    May tells us that "we" need to "control our borders" and clamp down on immigration.  But why should we "come together" against workers like ourselves, who come here to make a living by contributing to society with their labour?  Why should we be any part of measures against refugees, fleeing their war-torn or poverty-stricken countries, especially given the heavy responsibility that Britain has, like all rich powers, in causing their catastrophic situation!
    No, if "we" need to "control our borders" it is only against the wealthy, very British, capitalist class, who rob public funds by evading taxes, with the obliging help of Britain's own, state-sponsored, tax havens!
    In fact, we should never forget that those who keep pointing the finger of blame at so-called "foreign enemies" are all too often just doing so to conceal their lenient attitude to our class enemies, the British capitalists.
    Of course this is true for May and her Brexiters, but it is also true for some trade-union and Labour party leaders who claim to speak for us.
    For instance, earlier this week, the RMT leader Mick Cash launched a scathing attack against the fact that "French" state company SNCF is part of a consortium bidding for the high-speed HS2 rail franchise.  And Labour's shadow transport minister, Pat Glass, joined in, complaining that "75 per cent of our railways are now wholly or partly controlled by foreign states or foreign companies".  
    But so what?  Would it be any better if the railways were wholly controlled by British bosses?  Apparently Mick Cash thinks so,  since the same day  he called off a 48-hour strike against Branson's East Coast franchise - despite the fact that this very British-owned company is cutting hundreds of jobs!
    For Cash - or for Pat Glass who didn't say a word about this dispute - cutting jobs must be ok, as long as the company doing so is British!
    The same deception underpins Corbyn's launch of Labour's election campaign.  By sticking to his "soft Brexit" policy, implying that there can be such a thing as a "good Brexit", Corbyn avoids exposing the resulting mess and cost for the working class.
    Likewise, his words sound good when he talks about the need to increase funding and wages in the NHS, to stop the Tories' cuts in education, to launch a large-scale social housing programme and to repeal all anti-strike laws.  Sure, all this is vitally needed.  But who will pay?  There's no two ways about it - the funds have to come out of the profits of the capitalist class by taking control of their finances.  Increasing corporation tax would only provide a tiny amount.  But does Corbyn dare to say it?  No, of course not!
    So, once again, the working class will have no way of expressing its interests in these polls.  No real change has ever come out of the ballot box for us.  What we do have, though, is our collective strength.  Collective action is our only way of being heard and our only weapon in this system of fake democracy.  If we do not want to pay once more for the irresponsibility of this corrupt system, we will have to use this weapon!