LABOUR Leader Corbyn opened the Labour Party general election campaign yesterday by stating: ‘We have four weeks. Four weeks to take our message to voters to convince them Britain can be better. It can be transformed. It doesn’t have to be like this. We can transform Britain into a country that – instead of being run for the rich – is a one where everyone can lead richer lives. And I mean richer in every sense.’
He wants a better Britain, not a socialist Britain but a transformed capitalism, in fact, he did not mention socialism once in his speech. Corbyn continued: ‘Because there is no doubt; Britain is being held back. If your children aren’t getting the education they deserve because class sizes are too high, then your children are being held back. If you’re a young couple, or anyone trying to get a home and can’t make a home because rent and house prices are too high, then you’re being held back.’
He added: ‘But Britain is a rich country – the sixth richest in the world. We caught a glimpse of that wealth only two days ago when Rupert Murdoch’s Sunday Times published its Rich List. In the last year, Britain’s 1,000 richest people have seen their wealth rise by 14 per cent to £658 billion – that’s nearly six times the budget of our NHS.
‘Imagine the outcry if public sector workers put in for a 14 per cent pay rise. But it’s no surprise that the richest have got even richer after the tens of billions the Tories have handed them in tax cuts. That’s what we mean when we say the system is rigged for the rich.’
He added: ‘Change always involves taking on vested interests.’ Exactly, the enemy is not the ruling class – the bosses and the bankers and their capitalist system. The problem is that capitalism has been ‘rigged’ by the Tories so that vested interests are favoured. Corbyn says he will unrig it and then we’ll all live fairer and richer lives.
When he speaks about the dangers ahead it is not about the fact that another major banking crash is on the way and with it massive poverty and massive austerity – unless socialist policies are carried out.
He states: ‘And there is a real danger that the Tories’ fearmongering and spin machine will make some people settle for less than they should. Resign themselves to things the way they are – underestimating just how many more burdens the Tories could impose if their mission to rig the system for the rich isn’t halted. Our Westminster system is broken and our economy is rigged. Both are run in the interests of the few.’
He wants a capitalism being run for the many – this is why there is no mention of socialism and the struggle for it in his speech. Labour is under attack because we are standing up to the elites who are determined to hijack Brexit to pay even less tax and take even more of the wealth we all create. Labour is under attack because we are standing up to the corporate interests plundering our NHS. How much more will be privatised if the Tories get another five years?
‘We’re drawing a line. Three decades of privatisation – from energy and rail to health and social care – has made some people very rich but it has not delivered richer lives for the majority. In the coming days, we will be setting out our plan to transform Britain – with an upgraded economy run for the many not the few.’
Corbyn continued to attack PM May on the basis that despite talk she is continuing with an unfair system. He asked: ‘What’s remotely fair about the bedroom tax? What was fair about racking up tuition fees? Or about taking benefits away from people with disabilities? Or about closing Sure Start Centres. Or starving schools of cash. Or opening up the NHS to be feasted on by profiteers.’
However, capitalism is not rigged and there is no unrigged fair version of it. It is a violent system of super-exploitation and robbery of the working class so as to make super-profits for the ruling class. What is required is not a better mannered capitalism but a socialist revolution.
The WRP is standing five candidates in the general election to fight for a socialist programme to overthrow capitalism by expropriating its bosses and bankers to go forward to socialism. Vote Labour on June 8th, to get the Tories out but vote WRP where we are standing, to put an end to capitalism with a socialist revolution.
