Build the socialist opposition
Joe Fathallah, Cardiff East Socialist Party
As if working-class people are not already struggling enough with rising bills and prices, from this April essential bills are set to increase by an average of almost £250 for millions of households.
Energy prices are projected to rise by an average of £47 a year, water by £86, and council tax in England by over £100. Water bills, TV licences, mobile phone and broadband contracts, and train and bus fares are also forecast to go up. For most of us, our pay is well behind where it was five years ago and with inflation creeping up again the future looks bleak.
Meanwhile, just days into the year, the income of an average FTSE 100 CEO has already far exceeded what most workers will earn all year. Britain has the largest wealth gap between the richest 10% and the poorest 10% of any major economy apart from the US. The resources exist in our society to provide a good standard of living for everyone, but wealth and power is concentrated in the hands of the super-rich capitalist elite.
Clearly, a tax on these obscene riches could go some way to relieving the worst symptoms of this disease. However, while ownership of the utilities and the commanding heights of the economy remains in private hands, they will be run as money-making schemes for their shareholders. Socialists call for democratic nationalisation, with compensation paid only based on proven need, of the energy sector, utilities, railways, telecommunications, and all the private companies ripping off working-class people for the benefit of the super-rich.
Keir Starmer and his New Labour government have made it clear they intend to serve the interests of the bosses’ capitalist system. No wonder they are so unpopular. We need a new party of the working class to fight back against the cost-of-living crisis!
