Unions must lead fight against Labour austerity to undermine support for far right

Editorial of the Socialist issue 1296

On 26 October, just four days before this Labour government’s first budget, far-right Tommy Robinson supporters called a demonstration in central London. It was estimated that around 10,000 turned up, slightly fewer than the 15,000 that attended in July.

There was a lively counter-demo; unlike in July, this one was of a comparable size to that of the far right. Many will have been appalled that Robinson was planning to march again after the summer riots, attempting to whip up racism, division and potentially violence on our streets.

The riots in the summer were resoundingly rejected by the majority of people. They resulted in growing counter-demos to defend working-class communities, many of which massively outnumbered those taking part in riots.

There is clearly huge anger in society, millions have been forced down into poverty, there are massive council house waiting lists and the private-rented sector feels out of control with rising rents. On top of this, the NHS and other services are on their knees. And it is the anger at problems like this, together with racist anti-migrant rhetoric, which Robinson and his ilk use to mobilise people.

One of the slogans on Robinson’s demo on Saturday was “enough is enough” which, just a few years ago at the start of the strike wave was the name of a campaign in support of striking workers initiated by Mick Lynch and Dave Ward, leaders of RMT and CWU trade unions. Hundreds of thousands signed up to support it, and tens of thousands attended rallies, many with the expectation of it becoming a new party. However, it came to nothing because its leadership did not see it as a step towards a workers’ party, but only as a vehicle to put pressure on Labour.

Now Robinson cynically uses  the slogan, but of course, he doesn’t want to mobilise anger in a fight to improve the lives of working-class people but to whip up violence alongside a core of hardened racists and fascists.

John McDonnell MP, currently suspended from Labour for voting to scrap the two-child benefit cap, told those on the counter-demo that the likes of Tommy Robinson look for an opportunity to “spark a fire and that opportunity came after 14 years of Tory austerity”.

Others also called out 14 years of Tory rule, such as Mick Whelan from Aslef, the train drivers’ trade union. He said the recent riots and large Robinson demonstrations were a product of cruel austerity and the right-wing press echoing those ideas, pushing that people should blame austerity rather than migrants for the many issues facing working-class people.

But the Tories are no longer in power. They were resoundingly forced out at the general election on 4 July. Yet, unfortunately, none of the speeches put forward the need for a serious campaign on Starmer’s Labour government to stop and reverse further austerity.

It was only Daniel Kebede, the general secretary of the National Education Union, who even mentioned the budget and called for it to include investment in public services not more cuts, when he said from the platform: “We need jobs, we need homes, we need services, we need investment in our communities so that there are no longer the pools of bitterness that allow racism to fester”.

This call echoed Trades Union Congress policy passed in 2018 calling for “Jobs and homes, not racism”. That resolution was pushed for by Socialist Party members, who have continued to build in their workplaces, schools and communities. A serious campaign, led by the trade unions, to oppose racism and fight the Labour government for what our communities need, would undermine support for the far right.

Rachel Reeves admitted that many of the public sector pay rises, were granted to prevent further effective strike action. Following the strike wave of two years ago, workers continue to organise against cuts, outsourcing and low pay.

Austerity

Already having attacked pensioners’ winter fuel payments and refused to scrap the two-child benefit cap, this Labour government will make further attacks on working-class people on behalf of the capitalist bosses. Rachel Reeves’s budget on 30 October, after the Socialist has gone to press, won’t include full funding for our NHS, or sufficient funding for local authorities to reestablish services cut by Tory austerity. It won’t include the “investment in our communities” Kebede called for.

On the demonstration, left-wing Labour and independent MPs, many of who have signed an open letter to Rachel Reeves calling for a wealth tax, had a platform in front of thousands of people. But they failed to raise any programme to counter Starmer’s austerity. That was a missed opportunity.

The same was true of the speeches from trade union leaders who, by simply blaming the Tories and ignoring Labour’s continued austerity, effectively acted as a cover for Starmer and Reeves. Rather than cheerlead for the government, the trade union leaders must organise a serious struggle.

Pressure, both industrial and political must be built not just to prevent further austerity but reverse the huge attacks which people have faced. If it isn’t, then growing layers of people, angry at both the Tories and Labour for austerity, will look to the likes of Tommy Robinson and his racist rhetoric.

Mass working-class action is needed to challenge Labour’s attacks. The trade unions giving a lead is essential to cut across attempts by the far right to spread their disgusting and divisive ideas.