Reeves did fine for the bosses: FTSE shares and gilts hardly batted an eyelid

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Workers' Fight workplace bulletin editorials
30 October 2024

Before the Labour government’s first budget speech in 14 years, Prime Minister’s Questions took place as usual. But it was not a usual PMQs. Rishi Sunak led the Opposition for the last time, since a new Tory leader will be elected this weekend. Flattering speeches about his tenure as PM came from all sides of the House. Of course they did. After all, at the end of the day, they’re all friends, whichever party sponsors them, together ensuring the “stability” of the British political system and its capitalist economy.

    The only question of any significance came from the leader of the Greens: “as a human rights lawyer, does the Prime Minister agree that banning UNRA [the UN humanitarian aid organisation for Gaza, just proscribed by the Israeli parliament] is a breach of international rights law and how much more evidence does he need before calling out what is happening as a genocide?” Starmer answered that he thought Gaza was a “human catastrophe” but that he’d never described what is happening there as “genocide” - he did however agree that “all sides should comply with international law”.

   As if the naming of systematic mass murder of civilians was the point here. But this exchange does, very explicitly, illustrate the true function of “international law”: nothing but a smokescreen for the world’s political leaders to hide behind, while their interests are taken care of by proxies who they supply with the necessary weapons.

   Whether the Palestinians exist or not into the future, is neither here nor there, for US, British, or EU leaders. Today’s imperialism is only interested in a Middle East which is stable enough to ensure a profitable flow of goods, services and raw materials. The British government could not care less about treatment of the populations by their rulers - as, for instance, the very close ties with Saudi Arabia’s vicious feudal dictator, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (also) goes to show.

   The budget delivered by Reeves was predictable. It had been leaked beforehand. The main controversy was the increase in National Insurance Contributions for the bosses (but not “working people”). “Very” small businesses were relieved to be offered certain exemptions. However the Office for Budget Responsibility said that 76% of this “NIC cost” to the bosses is likely to be taken back from employees in one way or another: through wage cuts, job cuts, cuts in conditions, etc. So much for that.

   Nevertheless the bosses’ organisations are up in arms about what is described as the biggest tax rise in proportion to GDP, since WW2 - or, says former Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, “in British history”!

   But Reeves has done exactly what was expected of her by the bosses - and indeed what many prominent bourgeois economists advised - in order to try to inject some life into the decrepit capitalist economy.

   She’s not wrong, for instance, to say that a “healthy economy needs a healthy NHS”, among other public services. But curing disease, means rooting out the cause. And that would mean rooting out capitalism itself. Only a revolutionary working class party could organise the forces required for such a task. That party needs to be built!