On the uprising by the youth in England

The brutal murder of Mark Duggan by the police on the 4^th August 2011 in Tottenham is what sparked an uprising of the unemployed and student youth across England. As the parasitic nature of the capitalist system has grown so has the size and brutality of the state repressive forces.

The massive cuts of 82 billion pounds launched by the Labour Party, and now continued by the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives, together with huge unemployment and falling real wages, are the objective factors that has led to this explosion by the youth. The working class has long been prepared to fight against the imperialist capitalist regime of Britain but the treacherous leaders within the workers movement have consistently kept the organised working class off the streets- they only occasionally organised 1 day marches for the masses to blow off steam. In the deliberate disorganization of the resistance, the ‘left’, the SWP, the Militant, Workers Power, WRP, Socialist Fight, etc have played the major counter-revolutionary role. In fact they have done this over the years and this time round the imperialists thought they could once again depend on them. Indeed they will continue to play the most dangerous role in saving the system by acting to isolate and stifle the current uprising of the youth.

Who are the criminals?

The main criminals are the US and UK banks and indeed the entire capitalist class, who are making unheard of profits of countless billions of pounds. They are the ones who are condemning millions of workers to low wages, mass unemployment; they are the ones who increase their profits over the backs of students who now have to pay triple their fees. The capitalist class is responsible for raising housing costs to levels that have no relation to real costs; they are the ones who have raised fuel and food prices much higher than their real level; they are the ones who profit massively from the increasingly privatized health care system. The Labour Party, Lib Dems and Conservatives are the agents of these capitalist criminals who have been openly looting the public coffers and the working class for centuries.

The way forward

While organizing action committees in every area, uniting local and immigrant workers, the immediate question must be of self-defence against the police thugs. At the same time it is important to call for factory committees to be set up in the form of work-based action committees. While the youth is the spark of the uprising, it is the broader working class that has to be mobilised to take the fight further. The capitalists are the ones who are looting the masses- the way to resist should be to prepare for factory occupations as part of the preparation for a general strike. At the same time the workers and youth should march to the union offices to demand a general strike, not only against the cuts but for jobs for all. Workers should send delegations to their family members who are rank and file soldiers in the army and call on them to join in the defence of the masses.

These are the first next steps in the fight ahead. 12.8.2011 WIVL