Socialist Europe: A Manifesto Socialist Europe is standing in these European Parliamentary Elections because we believe we have a unique take on the future of Britain and the future of Europe and indeed the global economy that deserves both a hearing and, we hope, your support. Socialist Europe does not simply believe in telling you what we will do for you if elected. We are not interested in demagogic promises that we could never keep or that we could abandon on a whim if we wanted leaving the labour movement and the hard-pressed communities that voted for us leaderless and vulnerable. No, our interest is not simply in a change of government but something much more fundamental. A shift of power from the tiny, self-serving ruling class elite to working class people ruling in the interest of society as a whole. For that shift to occur it has to be a consciously taken political decision made and enacted by the people themselves. It is a decision that cannot for much longer be postponed given the 2008 Collapse of Capitalism and the inexorable slide of the world economy towards inescapable depression and worse. The continuing Credit Crunch, the collapse in the spending power of working people and the state and the profiteering and cash-hoarding of the monopolies and cartels that dominate the national and global economy ensure this is so. We would like to use the platform of these elections and indeed, if elected, that of the European Parliament, in which we have no illusions, to agitate for our perspectives. To this end we put forward the following programme for the transition to socialism in Britain and Europe. Each policy poses the question: ` who is in charge?’. But each also answers the question: `what next?’: Banks End the bailout of the bankrupt banks. Without this nothing can be achieved. It is estimated that when they collapsed in 2008 British banks and financial institutions owed their creditors £6.7 trillion. A sum so large as to be laughable. And yet, because these creditors are billionaires and corporations, the state is picking up this tab. Not only has the government therefore lost its share of the tax income levied on the 30-year bankers’ Ponzi Scheme, launched by Thatcherite de-regulation in the 80s and adopted by New Labour as its sole economic policy, but it is now pouring the nation’s wealth into this financial black hole. The Bankers’ Versaille must be halted. The bankrupts must be allowed to go bankrupt not the nation. Their staff, estates and deposits must be taken into administration to form a People’s Bank with a monopoly of credit to prevent privateers from robbing the nation blind ever again. This bank will lend at base rate to small business and facilitate social investment in accordance with a democratically arrived at and environmentally sustainable plan. Jobs Full employment now! All school and college leavers and unemployed who cannot find their own jobs must be bought into the workforce to share the available productive work with each paid the minimum of a trade union living wage. The right to a job is the only serious right of the worker and must be enforced over the rights of capital to maintain in deep poverty a reserve army of labour. Full-employment will be the foundation for a radically different society. Public Spending Defend all necessary and desirable welfare and public spending and support the struggle of working people to do so. This must be paid for by the collection of sufficient income tax and if necessary through the seizure of hoarded wealth. Workers Democracy Socialise and democratise the profiteering, cash-hoarding corporations and their enormous surpluses. They must be made public property. Renationalise all privatised industries and services and end the contracting out of public services for profit. Replace shareholder and Old School Tie-imposed managers who treat UK plc as a private trough with those elected by the workforce. Support the establishment of committees of all grades of workers to challenge for management and argue for public ownership. Europe and Britain We support the replacement of the United Kingdom with a federation of sovereign British nations and the North of Ireland. We stand for the renegotiation of the founding treaties of the European Union in accordance with socialist principles (EU-wide living wage, full employment, etc). In the meantime we will oppose the imposition of any anti-working class EU directives. In the event of an ‘in-out’ referendum we of course will vote for ‘out’, no socialist could possibly vote positively for the neo-liberal principles underpinning the EU, the same principles by the way that are tearing it apart, but unlike the chauvinists we will explain that we are in fact in favor of reforming the EU along socialist lines.
Posted on: Wed, 06 Nov 2013 22:54:38 +0000
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