The Socialist 9 November 2011

Build for 30 Nov strike - The fight of all our lives!

Build for 30 Nov strike - The fight of all our lives!

Socialism 2011: Crucial preparation for the fightback

Jarrow march ends, fightback continues

We won't pay £9K! - Scrap tuition fees

Unison members say YES to strike

Southampton: Sink Tory cuts!

Bombardier protest against job losses

Workplace news in brief

1935 - when angry Welsh protests forced a government u-turn

1915 - How strikes and rent strikes won gains for Scottish tenants

Failed G20 summit takes eurozone nearer to the abyss

Greek workers must resist the dictatorship of finance capital

Socialist MEP among Gaza peace activists kidnapped by IDF

Israel: General strike over job security

Housing slump

Miliband the militant? No way!

PDFs for this issue




Link to this page: http://www.socialistparty.org.uk/issue/693/13129

Google search the site	Printable version	email to friend

Home | The Socialist 9 November 2011 | Join the Socialist Party

Subscribe | Donate | Bookshop

Miliband the militant? No way!

Paul Gerrard

Labour Party leader Ed Miliband has come out in favour of the occupation at the London Stock Exchange. Wow! They've only been there a whole fortnight, but of course he had to run half a dozen focus groups to see if the occupation really was popular before he made such a bold move.

Of course when Miliband says he supports them, that doesn't mean he actually agrees with their message that 'Capitalism is crisis'. In one interview he's quoted as saying: "I think a particular form of capitalism is facing a real crisis. I don't think the answer is to abolish capitalism. My dad probably would have believed that".

Miliband has picked up on a change in mood among workers and middle class people, as they increasingly see the system as the cause of their misery. He has tried to draw a distinction between 'predators' and 'producers', and has rounded on the - hugely unpopular - energy companies for their 'predatory behaviour'. Yet he is wedded to a market solution - more competition and simpler tariffs. Yes, Ed, that should sort it.

In reality you can't tell a 'predator' from a 'producer'. Yesterday's 'good guy' can turn very nasty indeed when profits are threatened. In any case the Socialist reported two weeks ago that just 1% of giant corporations effectively control the world economy, and most of these are financial institutions like Barclays Bank, JP Morgan Chase & Co and The Goldman Sachs Group - the ones everybody hates the most!

Sorry Ed, you just don't get it. Should have listened to your dad.

In this issue

Fighting the cuts

Build for 30 Nov strike - The fight of all our lives!