Blah, blah, blah, to quote Greta Thunberg. That’s what the noise of the general election sounds like. Is anyone listening to what the mainstream party leaders are saying as we near polling day?
I guess a few hardy souls are. For the majority, it seems, the hatred of the Tories is overwhelming while voters in general are underwhelmed by the prospect of a super-majority Labour government.
Who knows what the turnout will be? Seven million people had failed to register to vote hours before the deadline. Enthusiasm for the election is hard to detect.
Even those with a vote have, in many cases, lost faith in the political system, according to major survey called British Social Attitudes just published.
“All in all, it appears that people’s trust in governments and politicians, and confidence in their systems of government, is as low now as it has ever been over the last 50 years, if not lower,” the survey said.
Dissatisfaction with the way the UK is governed is now at an astonishing 79%. Clearly, some new direction is demanded. Labour under Keir Starmer is a million miles away from that road.
Labour has tacked so far to the right that business leaders have rushed to endorse Labour’s programme. Several Tory MPs and candidates have jumped ship to join the likely winning side.
Candidates who don’t meet Starmer’s approval have found themselves axed by a bureaucracy that is determined to remove any vestige of socialism from the parliamentary party.
Starmer has gone out of his way to pledge his patriotism, endorse nuclear weapons and his support for “national security” to the extent that current military and former intelligence chiefs have pledged their backing.
So the capitalist state is more than happy to have Starmer as prime minister because he is no threat to the established order, economically or politically. He is what is known as a “safe pair of hands”.
What a contrast with Jeremy Corbyn when he was leader. Corbyn was, for example, warned by military chiefs of consequences if he didn’t sign up to the use of nuclear missiles if he reached Downing Street.
However, as we explain in our manifesto, Work Together for System Change, the political system is in a profound crisis. There is a real possibility of the Tory Party all but being wiped out on July 4, according to several opinion polls.
While this is a joyful prospect, what might come next is not so endearing. Be careful what you wish for! If it’s the end of the Tories, then it’s also the end of the British status quo and the democratic parliamentary settlement with the people established in the 19th century. This is entirely new territory.
A Starmer government will be driven by the UK’s debt mountain to make cuts in public spending. For obvious reasons, Labour has failed to acknowledge this reality, outlined in a recent report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies
Failure by a Starmer government to tackle pressing social issues like poverty, inequality, the collapse of services and so on, will prompt right-wing, anti-democratic, extra-parliamentary forces to organise to take advantage of the crisis.
In preparation, we should come together to work for system change. Read and download the manifesto and share with your friends. If you haven’t yet done so, join our Facebook group to take part in plans to build a democratic alternative through Popular Assemblies.
We are entering uncertain and dangerous times. Acting together with that understanding is crucial.
So as an NI resident with next to no agency in the next uk election what would your reply to me be.