Battered Boris must go... and all the Tories with him!

Socialist Party members sold over 80 copies of the Socialist across the two protests against Boris Johnson on 10 and 11 July 2019, photo Ian Pattison (Click to enlarge)

Nick Chaffey, Socialist Party national committee

Battered by his own MPs in parliament, his Oxbridge allies in the Supreme Court, and even some press barons, the isolated Tory leader has used his party conference as a platform for a right-wing populist election manifesto.

He is hoping to appeal to working-class leave voters, angered by three years of parliamentary obstructions. But nothing Johnson offers will solve the problems of workers or end the crisis.

Trying to appeal to working-class voters with promises to raise the minimum wage and increase funding for the NHS, schools and the police, shows the looming election will not be fought only on Brexit. It will also be a judgement on austerity. A record that haunts Johnson wherever he goes.

The announcement of an increase in the minimum wage is an admission of the poverty that has risen under the Tory austerity rule of Cameron and May. All voted through by millionaire Johnson.

A promise for the future will do nothing now to alleviate the record rise in child poverty, the daily pressure on low-paid families to buy food and pay the rent.

Attempts to patch up the Tory party with a right-wing populist appeal will not last the week. When a perpetual liar throws around future spending promises on health, education and local authorities, that will mean nothing for the hospitals, schools and councils; for the nurses, porters, teachers, TAs and council workers.

There is no new money today, and what is on offer in no way makes up for years of cuts. So the acute crisis in public services will continue and the anger at austerity will continue to boil.

But as parliament re-opens, the pantomime continues with debates on procedure and inflammatory language. The continued delay and uncertainty over Brexit leaves working-class voters increasingly alienated from politics, and full of four-letter words of their own.

Away from the media headlines, but reported every week in the Socialist, the growing number of localised strikes, and now important national disputes developing in Royal Mail and the universities, reveal the battle lines that this election should be fought over.

Corbyn's own conference commitments on pay, social care, education and scrapping Universal Credit will enthuse working-class and young voters. But it needs to be heard, loud and clear.

That must be done on the streets, through rallies and demonstrations mobilised by the left-led trade unions, demanding an immediate general election and an end to austerity. Corbyn has to call on his own Labour councils not to implement another penny in further cuts.

All of this could counter the lies and slanders in the Tory media.

Linked to a decisive call for a vote of no confidence in Johnson, such a campaign could be a winning platform for Corbyn, especially if he were armed with socialist policies and Labour candidates prepared to fight for a permanent end to the age of austerity.

General election now
No unity with pro-austerity MPs
For an anti-austerity Corbyn-led government with socialist policies
No to the bosses' EU
For an EU exit deal that defends jobs and workers' interests

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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.

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