PM JOHNSON in his Thursday speech in Blackpool unveiled his war on two fronts against the Russian workers abroad, and at home against the UK working class, that is currently being pauperised by massive price rises, and is preparing to respond with historic strike actions.
With the war in the Ukraine forcing up oil, gas and food prices all over the world, Johnson was insistent that it must continue. He said: ‘I know that there are some who argue – not in this country perhaps but elsewhere – that the price of supporting the Ukrainians is now too high.
He said of Putin: ‘He will never succeed in subduing Ukraine, and the sooner he comes to that understanding the better. But nor should he be allowed the partial success of swallowing some of the country – as he has done before – and declaring a ceasefire. He would be able to continue to twist the knife in the wound.
‘The crocodile would simply come back for more.’ Johnson emphasised: ‘I say this because I do not believe there is a quick fix in Ukraine, and because we must continue to support the Ukrainians – as we have from the beginning – for as long as it takes.’
He understands that continuing the war will mean massive price rises and starvation in many countries, including the UK, and a working class drive for higher wages. Johnson continued to emphasise that the ruling class would have to deal with the working class at home!
He stressed that the ‘second reality’– that is the working class at home – ‘is that when you face inflationary pressure, you can’t just spend your way out of it.
‘On the contrary, you have to be careful not to add to inflationary pressure. We are constrained in what we can do not just by the fiscal position – the risk of borrowing too much – but by the risk that we will fan the flames of further price increases.’
He continued that the struggle against the working class at home was just as important for the UK ruling class as the struggle to smash the gains of the Russian revolution saying: ‘That we cannot fix the increase in the cost of living just by increasing wages to match the surge in prices. I think it is naturally a good thing for wages to go up, as skills and productivity increase. That’s what we want to see.
‘And yes, we have been increasing wages: with a record increase in the Living Wage, and the changes to Universal Credit. But when a country faces an inflationary problem, you can’t just pay more or spend more.’
He added: ‘If wages continually chase the increase in prices, then we risk a wage-price spiral such as this country experienced in the 1970s – stagflation – that is inflation combined with stagnant economic growth.’
He warned that ‘When a wage-price spiral begins, there is only one cure. And that is to slam the brakes on rising prices with higher interest rates. ‘That has an immediate impact on mortgages and rents. It puts up the cost of borrowing for business. It is bad for investment and growth.
‘It is bad for jobs. It is bad for everyone. In fact it will create massive unemployment, and a horrendous future.’
Johnson insists: ‘And, of course, the increase in interest rates considerably increases the cost of borrowing for government. We are already spending £83 billion this year alone in servicing our debts. Every extra percentage point in interest payments is another £21 billion that has to go on paying lenders for our borrowing.
‘That is money that will have to be paid back by our children and grandchildren.’ He further emphasised: ‘And, while it’s not going to be quick or easy, you can be confident that things will get better, that we will emerge from this a strong country with a healthy economy.
‘That won’t happen if we continue to apply the same mindset that we had during Covid: that the answer to every problem is more state spending.’
The bourgeoise in the UK intends to starve the working class into accepting its planned draconian measures.
The working class has now been warned that it ranks alongside the Russian deformed workers state, as the main enemy, and that it will have to starve for the good of the ruling class, and that if it refuses it will meet the savage state violence that was dished out to the miners for an entire year in 1984-85.
The working class must now go into action and use its much greater power to smash the bosses the bankers and their out of date system.
The leaders of the TUC are meeting in Blackpool on June 15th, on the eve of the TUC’s massive demonstration in London on June 18th.
Its Blackpool meeting must decide to call a general strike beginning on June 18, to bring down the Tories and expropriate the bankrupt bosses by going forward to a workers government and a planned and nationalised economy. A socialist Britain will form an alliance with the workers of Russia and China and call on the EU and US workers to also take the power to go forward to the World Socialist Republic.
