Labour must not accept the Coalition’s cuts

The following is a motion written and
proposed by Adam Booth, Labour Party member and secretary of the
Cambridge Marxist Discussion Group. The resolution was written in
response to comments made recently by Ed Miliband and Ed Balls, the
leader of the Labour Party and Shadow Chancellor respectively, who have
outlined that the Labour Party cannot promise to reverse any of the
Coalition’s cuts if Labour is elected in the next election.

Understandably, this latest position by the leadership of the Labour
Party has angered ordinary Labour members, trade unionists, and youth,
who might have hoped to see a more fighting position taken by Ed
Miliband (who was, after all, elected as Labour Party leader as a result
of trade union members’ votes) and company. Trade union leaders, such
as Len McCluskey of Unite the Union, have already responded to express
their disappointment and anger (see http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012/jan/16/ed-miliband-leading-labour-destruction), which is undoubtedbly felt by workers and youth across Britain.

As the Marxists have explained many times, accepting the need for
cuts is the logical conclusion if one accepts the need for capitalism.
The current crisis is a crisis of capitalism, and the cuts are an
objective necessity if capitalism is to be saved. There is no
possibility of "reforming" or "regulating" capitalism at this time; of
creating a "nicer" or "fairer capitalism. The question is not about this
or that cut, this or that tax, or this or that reform. The question is
much more simple: who pays? Who pays for the crisis – the capitalist
class, i.e. the bankers and financiers, or ordinary workers and youth?

The role of leadership is to provide a real alternative to people
and to fight for this by building a mass movement. This is what Ed
Miliband and the Labour leadership should be doing – putting forward a
socialist alternative on the economy and giving confidence to workers
and students to take action to bring down this coalition government of
the rich. If Miliband and co. are unwilling to put forward a bold
socialist programme, then they should move aside for someone who is.

We encourage our readers to put forward this motion at LP meetings,
in trade union branches, in university Labour Clubs, and in student
unions to show the Labour leaders that workers and youth demand a mass
movement with a fighting, socialist leadership.

Here is the motion:

Emergency resolution:

Labour must not accept the Coalition’s cuts

This CLP notes:

• The recent comments made by Ed Miliband and Ed Balls indicating that
  they accept the need for the Coalition’s spending cuts, including the
  public sector pay freeze.
• The hundreds of billions spent on bailing out the banks, which continue to pay out billions more in bonuses.
• The 49% increase in executive pay for the top 100 firms in the UK.
• That social democratic parties in Europe, such as the PASOK in
  Greece, have carried out severe austerity programmes on behalf of the
  financial markets and are now deeply unpopular with voters.
• That the Financial Times recently released a supplement describing the economic crisis as a “Crisis of Capitalism”.
• That local Labour Party members, including Adam Booth and Daniel
  Zeichner, recently defeated a motion entitled “This House believes that
  there is no alternative to the cuts”, which was proposed by Vince Cable
  and others at the Cambridge Union.
• That the Labour Party is officially (according to membership cards) a “socialist” party.

This CLP believes that:

• Working people and youth should not be made to pay for a crisis that they did not cause.
• The cuts being made by the Coalition and by governments across
  Europe are for the benefit of the financiers and speculators who are
  demanding their pound of flesh.
• The Labour Party exists in order to represent the interests of working people and youth.
• There is nothing “credible” or “responsible” about carrying out cuts
  that gravely affect the lives and living standards of ordinary people.
• There is plenty of money in Britain and the rest of the global
  economy, but that it is concentrated into the hands of a tiny minority.
• The Labour Party must fight the Coalition with socialist policies.

This CLP resolves to:

• Condemn the recent comments made by Ed Miliband and Ed Balls
• Oppose cuts to wages, pensions, jobs, and services.
• Propose a socialist economic alternative, including the
  nationalisation of the commanding heights of the economy, in the
  interests of working people and youth.

Proposed by: Adam Booth (Market ward and UNITE the Union Cambridge University branch)