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From The Socialist newspaper, 4 January 2017
Tories want donors to 'defeat rise of socialism'
David Cameron accepts super-rich flash cash at Tory bash (Click to enlarge)
James Ivens
The Tories are advertising for regular donations to "defeat the rise of socialism."
Their 'Club 2020' seeks "business professionals alarmed by Labour's left-wing rhetoric" and "army of far left-wing supporters." Apparently Labour wants to "abolish our armed forces" and has "openly sympathised with terrorist groups."
Presumably Club 2020 also offers to check under its members' beds.
Tory donor clubs exist because "unlike Labour, the Conservative Party is not funded by the trade unions." Instead, it offers the super-rich and their flunkies the chance to buy influence over policy.
At just £50 a month, Club 2020 donors are the undergrowth of Tory patronage. But they can still find themselves "meeting the party's key politicians at two Club 2020 events every year." On the club's founding in 2015, the Daily Mail suggested this included Philip Hammond, then foreign secretary.
Perhaps you would like influence over top Tories? There's a range of options.
'Fastrack' for young professionals is £300 a year; the 'Front Bench Club' is £5,000. Members of the £50,000 'Leader's Group' get direct access to the prime minister at private dinners.
At least the Tories are honest about this set-up. For all their millions in affiliation fees, Labour's structures give the unions almost no influence on policy.
Meanwhile, Labour's Blairite right is always eager to hand peerages to leading business donors, just like the Tories. Labour has donors' clubs too.
Are you sick of the capitalists' crony politics? The Socialist Party has no big business backers. We fight for the working class - and decide policy democratically, not by auction.
Donate today to help realise the Tories' nightmare of the rise of socialism.
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Finance appeal
The coronavirus crisis has laid bare the class character of society in numerous ways. It is making clear to many that it is the working class that keeps society running, not the CEOs of major corporations.
The results of austerity have been graphically demonstrated as public services strain to cope with the crisis.
The government has now ripped up its 'austerity' mantra and turned to policies that not long ago were denounced as socialist. But after the corona crisis, it will try to make the working class pay for it, by trying to claw back what has been given.
- The Socialist Party's material is more vital than ever, so we can continue to report from workers who are fighting for better health and safety measures, against layoffs, for adequate staffing levels, etc.
- When the health crisis subsides, we must be ready for the stormy events ahead and the need to arm workers' movements with a socialist programme - one which puts the health and needs of humanity before the profits of a few.
Inevitably, during the crisis we have not been able to sell the Socialist and raise funds in the ways we normally would.
We therefore urgently appeal to all our viewers to donate to our Fighting Fund.
In The Socialist 4 January 2017:
What we think
2017: Upheaval and fightback will continue
Socialist Party news and analysis
Resist Trump: protest on 20 January
Bosses' pay goes up by 82% for nothing
Make Harrods give back stolen tips!
Northern Ireland: 'Cash for ash' scam shows need for non-sectarian, socialist politics
Tories want donors to 'defeat rise of socialism'
NHS drug price hike: nationalise big pharma!
No to 'Ceta' privatisation treaty stitch-up
Unite general secretary election
Unite election - fight the Blairites, vote Len McCluskey
Workplace news and analysis
Post Office workers striking against cuts
Why prison officers rejected pay and pensions deal
Support mounts for Picturehouse strikers
CWU strike against closures and pension cuts
Socialist readers' comments and reviews
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