LABOUR’S manifesto has caused consternation within the ranks of the Tory press, with yesterday’s Telegraph editorial claiming it ‘amounts to nothing short of dismantling the capitalist system’.
In fact, Labour’s manifesto, far from ‘dismantling’ capitalism, actually relies on the capitalist system to finance its proposed reforms.
Corbyn and McDonnell’s pledge to revitalise British capitalism through a massive investment of £400 billion is predicated on the belief that this money will be raised through massive loans from the world financial institutions and that this colossal debt will be affordable because of near-zero interest rates.
They have an unshakable belief that the world capitalist financial system has stabilised around low interest rates on such loans – that they will remain at near-zero levels forever.
This touching faith in the world capitalist financial system, ignores all the recent warnings from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that capitalism is on the point of crashing under the weight of a global $19 trillion debt ‘time bomb’ which it blames on the existence of historically low interest rates fuelling a debt explosion.
All of this is shrugged off by Corbyn and McDonnell. Indeed, the manifesto makes no reference to the capitalist financial crisis as if it will have no impact on a Labour government.
Equally, it doesn’t even enter their heads that the international bankers and hedge fund managers might seize the opportunity of crushing Labour’s plans by simply refusing to lend them the money.
All this is ignored, such is Labour’s touching belief that the bankers and bosses will tamely submit to a Labour government and not work day and night to destroy it economically and politically.
The manifesto is full of formally correct policies that will run up against the reality of capitalist crisis and the preparations of world imperialism for wars of conquest as the only route out of complete collapse.
This is clear in the section of the manifesto detailing Labour’s approach to foreign policy, especially regarding the Middle East.
Quite correctly, Labour pledges to immediately recognise the Palestinian state saying: ‘Labour is committed to a comprehensive peace in the Middle East based on a two-state solution – a secure Israel alongside a secure and viable state of Palestine.’
In fact, everyone knows the two-state solution is dead in the water – Israel, backed to the hilt by US imperialism – is determined to create just one Zionist state by driving Palestinians out of their land, and all the good intentions and correct motions in the world cannot change this reality.
The demand must be to recognise the state of Palestine with Jerusalem as its capital and to immediately render the Palestinian state all the material assistance to ensure its growth and survival.
Banning the sale of British arms to Israel, along with Saudi Arabia, does not go nearly far enough. There must be a complete boycott of all Israeli goods and services – this is the way to provide material assistance to the struggles of the Palestinians.
But this is the essence of Labour’s manifesto – correct policies that will resonate with workers and youth but with absolutely no concept of how to carry them them out in practice.
The reason for this is clear – Labour is a reformist party which, despite raging against inequality and austerity, believes that capitalism is the only possible system and all that can be done is to try and make it work a bit better.
Capitalism cannot be made to work – it is a system in the middle of a catastrophic crisis which it can only hope to survive by attacking the working class at home and fighting wars of conquest throughout the world.
The stark reality is that even Labour’s minimalist programme cannot be achieved except by the working class taking the maximum action through preparing not just for a Labour government but to go forward and seize the power and expropriate the capitalist class.
The only way to dismantle capitalism is to overthrow it through a socialist revolution. This requires the immediate building of the WRP and we call on all workers and youth to come to the 50th Anniversary of the News Line this Sunday and join in building the revolutionary party that is prepared to lead the coming socialist revolution to victory.
