TORY PM May spoke to Unite’s Len McCluskey and the GMB’s Tim Roache by phone on Thursday for the first time since taking office, in a desperate attempt to convince them of her Brexit deal, and to persuade Labour MPs to back it.
Roache said he was glad the PM had ‘finally picked up the phone’ but that her deal was not ‘good enough’. He said: ‘If the deal genuinely did the job for GMB members, our union would support it, but it doesn’t. It’s clear more time is required. We need to extend Article 50 and ultimately give the final say on Brexit to the public.’ Roache is not opposed to such a deal – he wants more!
The GMB in fact supports a ‘second referendum’ – to reverse the result of the first. Without Labour support, May has not got enough MPs to push her Brexit deal through.
Her deal means remaining in the Customs Union, and remaining under the auspices of the European Courts for an indefinite period under the backstop arrangement. The UK could only leave such an arrangement if or when the EU allows it. Her deal must be rejected.
It has now been revealed that the government is considering backing an amendment from Labour Leave supporter John Mann, giving ‘extra protections to workers and the environment’, in a bid to win support. A number of Labour MPs in Leave-supporting constituencies back Mann’s amendment, which the MP said would open up the opportunity for ‘other improvements to the prime minister’s deal’ so that Labour MPs could back it.
Corbyn said his party did not ‘accept or endorse’ what was on offer in the proposed amendment. However, it was Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, in his speech to the party conference back in September 2018, who first proposed an unholy alliance between Labour and the Tory PM. He said in his speech that he is willing to ‘reach out’ to PM Theresa May.
He made Tory PM May an offer: ‘If you deliver a deal which includes a Customs Union, and no hard border in Ireland, if you protect jobs, people’s rights at work and environmental and consumers’ standards, then we will support that sensible deal, a deal that would be backed by most of the businesses in the world and trade unions.’
May is now taking him up on the offer, begging Unite, the GMB and through them Labour, to support her deal. A government of national unity is her aim! In such a government, Corbyn would be used as a left cover for Remaining under the rule of the EU.
Meanwhile, you have Remainers of all parties ganging up together and planning an attempt to stop Brexit in its tracks by revoking Article 50 and reversing the whole process. To prepare this coup, Remain MPs brought a case to the European Courts which ruled that article 50 can be revoked without the agreement of the other EU states.
May was defeated by Labour and Tory Remainers twice last week. Parliament has ruled that May has to come back with an alternative ‘plan B’ within three days if her deal is voted down in the House of Commons next Tuesday. The intention is that the House of Commons will take charge of the Brexit issue, reject or amend any May ‘plan B’, and then vote for a second referendum or simply to revoke article 50 and remain in the EU. Such a move would be intensely provocative, and create a civil war situation across the UK.
What is being fought out in this country is who rules, the people or Parliament. Similar issues were first raised during the English civil war (1642-1651) and have emerged again at a much higher level.
Brexit however is not a national issue, it is an international one, that of working class revolt against the established order. In France, you have Frexit in Yellow Vests, with demonstrators beating up the riot police. In Hungary, there is to be a general strike against 400 hours of compulsory overtime, while Italy is bankrupt and cheering on the Yellow Vests.
We are witnessing the breakup of the European Union, and the beginnings of a European-wide socialist revolution. The working class in the UK will not allow Brexit to be dumped by the ruling class. It will rise up along with the workers of Europe to put an end to the EU and bring in the Socialist United States of Europe! This will be a major victory for the World Socialist Revolution!
