The Left disagrees

The following exchange occurred following the publication (24/02/2016) of the Blog

'What does the British EU referendum mean?' 

The exchange has been reproduced here as its own blog as its attachment to the comments box at the end of the original blog would limit its circulation. A subsequent blog on the EU titled 'Europe's Catastrophe' (02/03/2016) was published before receipt of the response to the blog criticised below.

Response to 'What does the British EU referendum mean?'

Surely the crisis of the right in the UK over the EU is another symptom of the fatal undermining of the legendary stability of the British political system. Having almost fatally destabilised Labour (unfinished business) it has now moved on to the Tories. 

This is of great importance as the Tories have been the party of ruling class rule in this state for well over 150 years. It therefore brooks no abstention from a revolutionary perspective. It is notable that while calling a NO vote a racist vote, you mention neither abstention nor an attitude to a YES vote.

You are undoubtedly correct about the class nature of the EU and its institutions. The City of London will get on with its projects as it sees fit - viz the merger discussions between the London and Frankfurt Stock Exchanges to better compete with the US and China by ever greater economic integration of the European banking and financial industry. It is this that fundamentally motivates the current leadership of the Tory party and their call for a YES vote to staying IN.

But this also matters to the other classes in society, whether or not they at present have in place a mainstream class based alternative. The exploitative demands of the masters of the universe on the "colonies" of humanity - the nation states - must always get greater and greater as capitalism staggers from one crisis to another. The debt enslavement of Greece makes the point. The ongoing process of creating " basket cases" of the states to the east and south of the EU and NATO moves on apace. 

In the UK we are loosing the Welfare State, the NHS and free education etc in the cause of maintaining the lowest level of corporation tax in Europe and competing with China for ever lower wage rates. 

At this point a NO vote looks like a racist vote only because of the total failure of the left across Europe to conjure into life a left alternative. This is the great failure of the Tsipras leadership. A break with the Euro was essential - if it resulted in expulsion from the European Union then that would have been because the European Capitalist Club would have expelled them. We say this would have been a beacon for the working classes across Europe and beyond. It would have been a declaration of political and economic self determination. 

This is a referendum - a one off vote on a single issue and is not an election to either the national parliament or the EU institutions. Cameron's deal is irrelevant - that's why the ballot paper is a straight IN or OUT choice. Of course there is a campaign for a radical left "in" vote. It's signed by the usual suspects - you'll have seen it. But the essential point is that they call for support on the basis of reforming the European institutions from within which we say is quite impossible. Instead we stood for the newly elected left wing Greek government, which had just got a triumphant referendum vote against Troika austerity despite being told that this would have resulted in expulsion from the Euro, we called for the Greeks to make a rupture with the Europe of the Bosses and the Bankers. 

We are called upon the vote right here and now on being in the EU and people who follow a left point of view want to know where the arguments lead in terms of that vote. 


Reply
The frustration about the left in Europe and the avoidance of a position on the Brexit vote (in the blog of 24/03/2016) is understandable but it is an exaggeration to blame Tsipras for a racist based vote in the UK!

However, the Greek situation expresses precisely all the contradictions in this matter. You are right that they should have dumped the Euro and the debt. Like most people I believe that the Greek majority (and millions across Europe) would have supported that move. But then you must see that there would have been the most enormous fight for Greece to retain its EU membership. Why? Because Greece could not survive outside of some sort of European support, the Greek population were crystal clear about that too.  And our advice from afar? Get out?

Of course the battle would actually have been for a new European leadership. But it would inevitably pass through the stage of the fight to retain EU membership (probably on the UK model!)

What does all this mean? First there is no absolute, abstract principle about getting out from (or getting in to) 'the bosses Europe'. Alas many on the left make that mistake (and others.) Cuba argued to be in the Washington led Organisation of American States and won - after 47 years of campaigning.

Whatever the vote turns out for Brexit we will be ruled by a bosses' Britain in a bosses' Europe in a bosses' world.

Brexit in 2016 is a hopeless diversion for what remains of the British working class movement; which first needs to organise its challenge to the City of London! Because a more racist current will prosper in the event of an exit it is probably worth voting to stay in and break their momentum. The vote is worth nothing more than that. It is a complete fake that in or out will win more democracy or make 'capitalism' weaker or stronger or create better or worse living standards etc etc. It is an empty side show and we are better getting on with challenging austerity, war and Trident and where we can, doing it on at least a European wide basis.