Fight for a new mass workers’ party
Oscar Parry, South West London Socialist Party
Rocked by scandal after scandal, including revelations about Boris Johnson’s callous disregard for people’s lives emerging from the Covid-19 public inquiry, and trailing 20 points behind in the polls, the Tories are scrabbling for votes, any votes. People quite rightly want to see the back of them.
Sunak’s probably final King’s Speech, instead of dealing with the ongoing cost-of-living, housing or environmental crises, was a desperate attempt to create ‘wedge issues’ to hit the votes for Keir Starmer’s Labour party.
In an attempt to force Starmer to oppose them, Sunak plans to legislate for annual North Sea oil and gas licensing rounds. This comes after the government approved the opening of Rosebank oil field. The only way to achieve real energy security and stop environmental destruction is to bring the big energy companies into democratic public ownership, which Keir Starmer has ruled out under pressure from his big-business backers.
Braverman
Suella Braverman has made disgusting comments that homeless people sleeping in tents is a “lifestyle choice”. Braverman’s threats to restrict tent use by giving police powers to confiscate tents and ban charities from distributing them are an attempt to distract from the real reasons homelessness is increasing – rising rents, a chronic lack of affordable housing and the Tories’ cost-of-living crisis.
On top of this, Michael Gove rolled back on his 2019 pledge to ban no-fault evictions after landlord lobbying.
Braverman is attempting to whip up further division by calling the protests against the bombing of civilians in Gaza “hate marches.” But Starmer’s refusal to call for a ceasefire in the massacre has driven home the complete capitulation of his Labour Party to the interests of the establishment.
It makes you wonder: how different for the majority of us would the laws announced in a Starmer King’s Speech actually be?
That’s why we need a new mass workers’ party that fights for a socialist programme that will make a difference to ordinary people’s lives.
