YESTERDAY morning Keir Starmer announced his resignation as prime minister and leader of the Labour Party in a speech that consisted of him listing all his achievements during his reign.
Insisting that becoming prime minister was the ‘proudest moment’ of his life, Starmer went on to boast that he had inherited a Labour Party that was ‘politically, financially and morally bankrupt’ and that he was responsible for leading it to the massive victory over the discredited Tories in the last general election.
Among the ‘achievements’ Starmer claimed was ‘restoring trust in the economy, defence and national security’. He added: ‘I know the question being asked now is not: “who is best placed to change the Labour Party to take us into power and begin the vital work of improving lives for billions of people?” Those questions have been answered. The question my party is now asking is whether I am best placed to lead us into the next general election.’
The question the working class and youth are asking is what is the point of a Labour government completely under the domination of the banks and bosses.
All this boasting about his achievements falls flat in the face of the fact that Starmer’s Labour government has earned the overwhelming hatred of the working class and youth.
Labour won a landslide election two years ago pledging to be different from previous Tory governments that had imposed savage austerity cuts on workers to pay for the global crisis of capitalism which was destroying the weak UK economy.
Labour’s victory was greeted with relief by the international capitalist class following the disastrous chaos of the Tories and who saw in Starmer a leader who could use the historic ties between Labour and the trade unions to discipline the working class and force them to submit to the demands of the bankers and bosses.
The capitalist class were reassured by the ruthless way in which Starmer had purged the Labour Party of thousands of members, along with MPs like former leader Jeremy Corbyn, in order to drive any lingering remains of socialism out of the party.
They were equally impressed when the first acts of Starmer and his chancellor Rachel Reeves were to cut sickness benefits and retain the two-child cap on benefits.
They were less impressed when Starmer and Reeves were forced to drop these austerity cuts when Labour MPs were forced into open rebellion fuelled by their fear of the massive opposition from workers.
Over the past two years, the Starmer government has failed to implement the austerity cuts demanded by the banks and international financial markets to cut the huge UK national debt of nearly £3 trillion and rescue bankrupt British capitalism from economic collapse at the expense of workers.
Meanwhile, Andy Burnham, whose election as MP last week prompted Starmer’s resignation and is predicted to replace him, has been quickly moving to prove himself acceptable to the capitalist ruling class.
Burnham has repudiated earlier statements about not being ‘in hock’ to the bond markets, insisting he had no plans to change the ‘fiscal rules’ of Reeves – rules used by her and Starmer to justify welfare cuts.
In other words, he will continue to pursue the same policies as before to cut the welfare state to ribbons to satisfy the demands of the banks.
Labour MPs desperately hope that changing Starmer for Burnham, or whoever is chosen, will convince the powerful working class to passively accept being driven into abject poverty to keep the bosses and bankers in profit.
The working class will have other ideas.
Having seen off Starmer they are not prepared to tolerate a Labour government that acts solely in the interests of a bankrupt capitalist system.
There has never been a better time for the working class to force the TUC to take action by calling an emergency conference to organise a general strike to bring down the Labour government and replace it with a workers government and socialism.
Only the WRP and Young Socialists fight for this policy – join today to build up the leadership required for the victory of the British Socialist Revolution.
