The Communist Party has urged the labour movement not to listen to “the false prophets of the right” in response to the 6 May election results.
“The likes of Lords Mandelson and Adonis only have one overriding aim – to defend the power and wealth of monopoly capitalism“, CP General Secretary Robert Griffiths told the party’s Political Committee on Sunday evening (9 May 2021).
“They blame the legacy of Jeremy Corbyn for the Labour Party’s many defeats in working-class areas last Thursday, yet it was the failure of their preferred leader – Keir Starmer – to campaign for bold and relevant policies that prompted many electors to abstain or turn to the Tories or Greens in desperation“, he accused.
“In Wales and those English municipalities where Labour still identifies itself with social ownership and the public good, Labour candidates triumphed against the pro-Tory swing created by the Covid vaccine roll-out, the furlough scheme and “getting Brexit done”‘.
The CP Political Committee welcomed the increased votes for Communist candidates in England – notably across London – and in Wales and Scotland. They mark a ‘fresh beginning’ for more sustained electoral work alongside mass campaigning in local communities, it declared.
In Scotland, Mr Griffiths pointed out, there had been no significant swing of votes to the SNP, although the SNP-Green majority in the Scottish Parliament had every right to initiate a second referendum on the country’s constitutional future.
“However, giving the people of Scotland a full choice can only mean an option on the ballot paper between the discredited status quo and a mirage of “independence” under the thumb of the EU, NATO, the British Treasury and the English monarchy“, the CP leader argued.
This would be ‘federalism’ with more extensive and entrenched powers for the Scottish Parliament to intervene against capitalist market forces, while retaining working-class unity in the struggle for wealth redistribution and socialist state power across all the nations and regions of Britain.
The Political Committee agreed to publish a pamphlet by CP international secretary John Foster on ‘Johnson’s Post-EU Britain and Progressive Federalism’, which puts the case for greater economic powers and financial resources for Scotland, Wales and local government in England.
Britain’s Communists also received an initial report from Women’s Organiser Carol Stavris on last Saturday’s online conference on ‘Sisterhood, Socialism & Struggle’ which attracted more than 1,500 participants and viewers.
Challenge News Desk
