April 2011 - Centre for Civil Society - University of KwaZulu-Natal

Woman" divining a bolder way to resist.
www.indymedia.org.uk
Cynthia McKinney
hq2600@gmail.com
http://www.blackagendareport.com/content/president-obama-gets-hisgroove-back-attacking-africans
Britain: After 26 March demonstration
For a 24 hour general strike!
Editorial from Socialism Today, magazine of the Socialist Party (CWI in
England & Wales) 8 April 2011
The 26 March London march against the austerity policies of the Con-Dem
government, called by the TUC six months ago, will undoubtedly be the
biggest demonstration since the massive anti-war marches of 2003. This
national demonstration follows a wave of local and regional
demonstrations, including occupations of council budget-setting meetings.
This is an answer to Mervyn King, governor of the Bank of England, who
said he was “surprised that the degree of public anger has not been
greater than it has”, given that working people were being asked to pay
the price of the financial crisis.
Most of the local marches were organised by rank-and-file activists, with
Socialist Party members playing a prominent role in many areas. No doubt,
these local demonstrations would have had a much bigger impact had the
trade union leaders used their resources to mobilise for action. The
national demonstration is long overdue. It will demonstrate the enormous
potential power of the working class and its allies among students and the
middle class. But by itself, a demonstration, however massive, will not
stop the cuts or bring down the government. The unavoidable question will
be: What action now?
Even the TUC has called the demonstration a ‘march for an alternative’.
However, it does not spell out either a course of further action or an
effective economic alternative. Implicit in the approach of the TUC
leaders, as well as other trade union leaders, is the ‘strategy’ of waiting
for the return of another Labour government.
The need for political representation
New Labour, now under the leadership of Ed Miliband, offers no real
alternative to the Con-Dem coalition. It accepts that some cuts are
necessary. In essence, its policy is to carry out ‘fiscal consolidation’ (cuts
in public spending, increases in workers’ tax and pension contributions)
over a longer period. Waiting for the return of a New Labour government
at the next general election is therefore no real alternative. By that time,
the Con-Dems will have carried through devastating cuts – unless they are
stopped by a massive, sustained movement of the working class.
The political bankruptcy of New Labour underlines the need for an
electoral alternative to provide working-class representation. An important
part of the battle against the cuts will be standing scores of anti-cuts
candidates in the May local elections. Many will stand under the banner of
TUSC, the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition, which together with the
Socialist Party involves militant trade unionists from the RMT transport
workers’ union, PCS civil service union, and other unions. While mobilising
opposition to local councils attempting to implement savage cuts, this