Johnson and Sunak U-turn to try to save their skins & 70-year Jubilee, nothing to celebrate: high time for the monarchy to go!

 Johnson and Sunak U-turn to try to save their skins; we need to fight to save ours!

Johnson's government is in a bad way. Sue Gray's report into Downing street parties - finally published last week - officially "proved" (as if needed!) that Johnson lied to parliament and that drinking and carousing took place at Downing Street during lockdowns. Now at least 60% of the population say he should resign...

    Worse, after losing nearly 500 seats in the 5 May local election, polls indicate that Labour would win if a General Election was held tomorrow. It's expected the Lib Dems will win the Tiverton and Honiton by-election in Devon, vacated by that MP who looked at "tractors" on his phone instead of attending to parliamentary business, while it’s likely Labour will win back Wakefield where the disgraced Tory MP Imran Kahn had to stand down. On top of it all, 26 Tory MPs are calling for Johnson to go and letters are flooding in to the 1922 committee asking for a no-confidence vote...

    So Chancellor Rishi Sunak, after refusing to countenance any real measures to help the poor in the face of the unprecedented inflationary crisis, suddenly made a U-turn and announced new emergency measures. Up to £1,200 will be given in financial help for each poor family this year. It's mostly coming from an extra windfall tax on oil and gas companies with the added benefit of higher "normal" taxes from their much higher profits.

    Of course, Sunak denies this is the same "windfall tax" which Labour has been promoting. No, it is a "temporary targeted profits levy" - and he boasts, that at £5bn, it's much more than Labour's figure of £2bn...

    In fact Sunak says £15 billion has miraculously became available to help with energy bills: every household will get a £400 grant, replacing the previous £200 loan; 8 million households on benefits will get a one-off extra £650 (but that won't replace the lost £20/w!); pensioners' Winter Fuel Allowance will go up to £300; 6 million disabled people will get an extra £150. However, most of this will not come through until the autumn, when energy costs will have gone up again...

    Whether Sunak’s U-turn will yield miraculous results for the Tories, as he hopes, is another matter. But anyway, as workers well know, the working class has always had to help itself, through its collective struggles. And for once, in the railways, Royal Mail, the buses and Underground, strikes over wages are on the cards. The next step is to co-ordinate the action...

 70-year Jubilee, nothing to celebrate: high time for the monarchy to go!

This weekend the British people are meant to celebrate the 70 years-too-many reign of “their” monarch: the Platinum Jubilee of 96-year old Queen Elizabeth, who has been head of state longer than any other.

    She is not just a figurehead. Even if, for over 300 years no British monarch actually used his or her powers (for example, to declare war, refuse a law, or dismiss parliament), the queen still holds such “rights”.

    But the main function of this gold-encrusted monarchy is as a lavish distraction from the brutal class system which it shields - and which in case of an emergency (like a general uprising of the working class!) it can defend by usurping power...

    Of course the class rule which the queen presides over, is today not immediately under threat - and more’s the pity. But at least Liverpool football fans have the guts to remind everybody of the true nature of this system when they boo the national anthem - as they did again at the FA cup final at Wembley, unafraid to be labelled “unpatriotic”!

    They are booing, not just because of their memories of Hillsborough in 1989, when 97 fans were crushed to death and no policeman nor FA boss was held responsible. And yes, it was a travesty, brought back vividly this weekend when police in France laid into fans (mums and kids included), with tear gas and pepper spray, ahead of the Champions League final - showing that a cop is a cop, wherever you might be.

    No, Liverpool fans refuse to idolise the Queen because they retain a consciousness which the working class in Liverpool built up through the very toughest times. It was no surprise when Liverpool players openly supported the 1984-5 miners’ strike. And it is outside Goodison Park and Anfield that “The Fans Supporting Foodbanks” initiative was founded in 2015 - and for good reason. They know all about poverty and its causes.

    Today the gap between rich and poor is wider than ever. Never mind the pandemic: the richest 250 saw their combined filthy lucre rise to £711 billion in 12 months! And while the Queen isn’t one of the 177 billionaires in the Sunday Times Rich List, (her personal fortune is £370m), the monarchy as a whole has a total net worth of £72.5 bn!

    So it would be just as well if this archaic institution, which hides the ruthless exploitation and deep poverty in this country, dies with this Queen. But the final toppling of the rotten system she presides over will require a strong collective push by the working class: and the sooner the better.