‘Soft
Brexit’ – a scenario where the UK joins a free trade area
with the EU, such as the European Free Trade Association (EFTA).
While tariffs would remain at zero, non-tariff barriers (including
customs checks, border controls, differences in product market
regulations and legal barriers) would increase the costs of
trade.
‘Hard Brexit’ – a scenario where the UK and
the EU do not immediately form a free trade area and the default
situation is to trade under World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules.
This would result in an increase in tariffs and non-tariff barriers
that would be substantially larger than under soft Brexit.
The
Brexit question is framed as having supreme importance, more so than
the looming climate change crisis Yet again it is a debate about
which particular version or configuration of capitalism should be
selected. In this case, the specific question of whether a
trans-national system of capitalism or a more traditional national
organisation of capitalism, should be chosen. Only when we
collectively realize that what are presented as contentious issues
such as immigration, taxation, etc. are not the real defining issues
of our lives, can we plan a much better society. It's only when
workers across the world discard all notions that countries and
national identities are a central part of the political landscape
that real changes can be made to all our lives. Capitalism cannot be
reformed. If any capitalist reforms have some slight advantage to the
working class it is merely an incidental by-product of a measure
designed to strengthen and maintain capitalism.
The
Little Englanders are having a field day with the pending Brexit
negotiations. The fear of ‘the others’, fear of people we don’t
understand permeates the thoughts of the British nationalist Brexit
advocate. This fear is man-made, developed by the owning class to
undermine working class solidarity. Prejudice, intolerance, bigotry,
racism, hatred and xenophobia have spread like insidious contagious
diseases. The media demonise and denigrating the poor while attacking
the migrant worker. The interests of fellow-workers have become
secondary to many people who are actually good working class people,
simply blinded by unfounded fear. That is a disturbing reality.
People must stop allowing the irrational fear of others to guide
their beliefs, opinions, and decisions and, instead, notice the
attacks on all workers. Otherwise, the ruling class may win and
destroy everything the working class has fought for, were jailed for
and died for. It should be clear that you don’t move towards the
unity of the world working class movement - a unity that must be
forged if we are to win any significant victory over a vicious
capitalism - by dividing the actually existing unity of the working
class in Britain along national lines. The task for socialists in all
countries is indeed independence - not of nations but of the working
class. This class independence is the very foundation of the struggle
for socialism. Insular nationalism throws up yet another barrier to
achieving a socialist society.
The
novelist, Victor Hugo said:
“Let's
not be English, French or German anymore. Let's be European. No not
European, let's be men. Let's be Humanity. All we have to do is get
rid of one last piece of egocentricity - patriotism."
Those
who seek Brexit wish Britain to remain a fully independent sovereign
state, with Westminster not Strasburg as the supreme law-making body.
It is the narrow view of the nationalist, in this case of the British
nationalist. It is also a view shared by many on the Left. It is not a
view shared by the Socialist Party.
We are neither Brexit
nationalists nor European Union federalists but world socialists. But
we can see the special fallacy of the nationalist argument. In the
world as it is today, it is neither possible nor desirable for the
people of one part to stand apart from the rest. We are already
living in a global village where what happens in one part of the
world effects us all. In terms of the production of wealth one world
already exists. The goods we consume and the machines and materials
used to produce them are all joint products of workers from many
parts of the world - something for British nationalists to ponder
over as they drink their tea. There has been a growing consciousness
that we are all inhabitants of a single world, that we share the
globe in common despite our different languages and cultures, is
something to be encouraged. Indeed it is essential if we are to
tackle problems such as global warming. The European federalists for
all their faults, at least realise that the people living on this
island off the north-west coast of the Eurasian land-mass need to be
closely associated with those on the mainland. Where they go wrong is
in imagining that this can be fruitful within the context of
capitalism. A federation of European capitalist states will no more
provide a framework for the resolution of working-class problems than
the so-called independent so-called nation-state. What is required is
association with the other peoples of Europe, and beyond that with
those of the rest of the world, on the basis of socialism. What is
required is not a European market, nor a single currency, nor a
European super-state but world socialism where the Earth's resources
will be owned in common and democratically controlled through various
inter-linked administrative and decision-making bodies at world,
regional and local levels. We appreciate that this vision of a united
world represents a nightmare scenario for some but that's their
problem not ours.
“Anti-globalisation”
is not a very good choice of name for progressives since you can’t
be against globalisation. Well you can, but it doesn’t make sense.
Globalisation – in the sense of the world becoming more integrated,
of the emergence of “one world” – is basically a good thing,
part of the preparation of the material basis for a world socialist
society. Global versus national
capitalism has emerged as an important divide in world politics. This
divide exists, first of all, within the capitalist class of
individual countries. Thus, even in the US, the citadel of
globalisation, some capitalists such as Trump supporters are
oriented toward the home market and favour national capitalism. And
in Russia some capitalists support globalisation. The pattern of
political forces differs from country to country.
In
Europe, a number of factors combined to encourage populist
nationalism and most dramatically, Brexit. The free flow of labour within the EU led to complaints of "Polish
plumbers" in the UK. Growing numbers of Muslim migrants has
created a culture of fear and anger. This has resulted in a growing
number of authoritarian regimes, as in Hungary, and the rise of
right-wing anti-immigrant politics personified by Brexit, Marine Le
Pen in France, as well as similar parties in Italy, the Netherlands and in
Germany. Socialism is the only way we can successfully resist
populism. Let’s leave some of the historic baggage surrounding the
word “socialism” at the door and start with a clean slate.
Socialism does not mean government control. Socialism does not entail
a tyrannical one-party state. Socialism means deepening democracy.
The
interest of the dominant section of the capitalist class in Britain
is that Britain should stay in the EU so as to have free access to
the European ‘single market’, but as the Brexit vote showed
public opinion is opposed to this on nationalist grounds. We insist
that workers in one state have the same basic interest as their
counterparts in other states. We are all members of the world working
class and have a common interest in working together to establish a
world without frontiers in which the resources of the globe will have
become the common heritage of all the people of the world and used
for the benefit of all. We re-assert the original socialist position
that workers ought to act as a world-wide class with a common
interest in working to establish a single world community. As
socialists we refuse to pander to petty nationalism but work to
promote a world without borders or passports. The Socialist Party
supports only working-class unity to establish a socialist world.
Socialism will be a global co-operative commonwealth, a free world
for a free people.
The
Socialist Party will be contesting the Euro-election region of South
East England and our candidates are:
Mandy
Bruce,
Ray
Carr,
Dave
Chesham,
Rob
Cox,
Mike
Foster,
Stephen
Harper,
Neil
Kirk,
Anton
Pruden,
Andy
Thomas,
Darren
Williams.
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