The not much good, the really bad and the extremely ugly...

Imprimer
Workers' Fight workplace bulletin editorials
22 May 2019

With the EU election this Thursday, May’s plan to put her withdrawal bill (apparently amended) to Parliament in the coming weeks, for the 4th time - and the queue of contenders to her throne getting longer by the day - the Brexit saga looks increasingly like a Sergio Leone “spaghetti western”.
    Except that at least Leone's "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" was amusing and enjoyable to watch.  Whereas there's been nothing enjoyable, nor even funny for that matter, about the past 3 years of pre-Brexit chaos.
    Instead, the whole Brexit process has been nothing but a painful demonstration of the hypocrisy which underpins the fake "democracy" of today's political system and the irresponsibility of its self-serving politicians!

Their system gives us a vote, but no say...

Indeed, 3 years on, there is still not one voice among these politicians to denounce the fact that the whole referendum was based on lies, whether it was about the NHS or about immigration, as both Leave and Remain camps tried, dishonestly, to win the vote.
    Nor is there any voice among these politicians to expose the fact that a choice between the two bad options on offer - which was what this referendum was really about - was no choice at all.
    And there is still not one voice among them either, to recall what really happened: not only the fact that 63% of all registered voters did not vote for Brexit, but also that 5.5m British expatriates were not allowed to register to vote in the 2016 referendum, including the 1.2m who permanently lived in other EU countries!
    In fact, whichever side they claim to be on today, all politicians go along with the official lie which claims that the Brexit vote somehow expressed the "Will of the People".
    But this is because they all go along with the biggest lie of all: that there can be anything "democratic" and, therefore, any expression of the will of the working class majority of the population, in ballots in which its interests are not represented!
    From Corbyn to Farage - and from May to the SNP - all these politicians go along with this lie, because this is how their bread gets buttered:  it is precisely this lie which gives the entire political system its alleged "democratic" credentials - thereby helping the capitalist class to conceal its looting of the economy and dictatorship over society behind a sham "democratic" facade!
    Yes, we, the working class have a vote, but we do not have a say.  And we will not have a say as long as we do not have our own political voice, expressing our own class interests!

... But we can have one!

So, now we are faced with yet another “no choice” vote - a European election which has been turned into yet another Brexit referendum, with even less choice than the previous one.
    The anti-Brexit side is a motley crowd:  nationalist parties (Scottish, Irish, Welsh) some of which want to have a border with England, to promote the interests of their respective privileged classes, but not with the rest of Europe!  Then, there are the Greens who refuse to admit that environmental issues won't be addressed as long as the profit motive remains.  And, finally, it includes the Lib-Dems and "Change UK", whose members have all been involved, up to their necks, in anti-working class policies, under Cameron or Blair.
    The pro-Brexit side is a ragtag of rival Tory factions, together with Farage's past and present political fiefdoms - from UKIP to the new, "Brexit Party".  Ironically, all these people claim to be "on the side of the People".  But none of them is.  It's obvious when it comes to a snob like Rees-Mogg or a millionaire like Bo-yob Johnson.  But what about Farage himself?  Despite his many photo-ops, posing as “the common man” in pubs, Farage was just an unsuccessful City broker, who made a career-move into politics - and got caught fiddling his MEP expenses just as his Tory rivals did, with their Westminster expenses.
    Finally, there's Corbyn's Labour, which claims to represent both sides.  Of course, they can't.  Refusing to oppose Brexit, amounts to condoning a vicious attempt to isolate our ranks and split them by excluding millions of EU workers.  Just as refusing to oppose the capitalist nature of the EU amounts to condoning capitalist parasitism - whether in Britain or in the EU as a whole.
    This is why we, workers, will have no say in this election by using our ballot papers, simply because there is no party expressing our class interests.  But there are other ways for us to have a say - in the streets and in the class struggle against our capitalist exploiters.  And this is what will be decisive for our future!