Capitalists
will try every trick to derail a Labour government. Sarah Bates
argues it will take mass resistance and strong counter-measures to
give them a run for their money
Part
2 - Limit
Trade
union leaders agreed to “voluntarily’ limit their pay demands.
The TUC union federation successfully enforced this “wage
restraint”, with the number of strike days falling from 23 million
in 1972 to 3 million in 1976.
Unemployment
rose and wages fell. The IMF’s loan conditions and devaluing of the
pound pulled Wilson’s government to the right. So the leadership
went from promising to “get rid of every fucking grammar school in
the country” to making cuts in the NHS budgets.
Socialist
journalist Paul Foot later commented wrote that, “It was
demonstrably true that it failed by a huge margin to shift the
balance of power towards working people”.
Employment
secretary Michael Foot told the 1975 Labour conference, “We face
an economic typhoon of unparalleled ferocity and we cannot run away
from it.”
It’s
common to compare financial markets to natural seasonal occurrences,
like a weather forecast. But economic decisions are not random—they
are made by the ruling class. The bosses and bankers will
unscrupulously use their economic power to exert political influence.
McDonnell’s recent comments highlight an important dynamic in the
capitalist system.
Bankers
and others who have a stake in the status quo do not sit back
passively if they feel their interests are threatened.
This
discussion about a run on the pound shines a light on the type of
system we live in. McDonnell spoke about “capital flight”, which
is where investors take their money to other markets they feel are
safer for their profits.
Source,
links:
https://socialistworker.co.uk/art/45399/We+will+need+sterling+resistance+to+stop+the+bosses+sabotage
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