Two very different strikes
Socialists support the striking rail workers and any others who enter the fray.
At the same, the Business Investment strike must be broken for any realistic possibility of a sustained rise in living standards.
Economy
Cost of living crisis is a ferocious ruling class assault
The current crisis of the British economy is exceptional in historical terms and even relative to the generally stagnant state of the major capitalist economies. As a result, the ruling class offensive against workers and the poor is also an exceptional one.
Spring Statement is a declaration that the gloves are off in the class war
To assist an increase in the rate of exploitation, Johnson’s government has prioritised boosting profits at every turn. Freezing public sector wages, cutting benefits, ‘fire and rehire’ and the outrageous attack at P&O are all part of the drive to anchor wages lower.
Austerity isn’t back. It never went away
NEF analysis shows a fall in living standards for the lowest paid half of the population, and a big increase in incomes for the top 5% of earners. On this evidence, the point that austerity has never gone away is irrefutable. The government clearly has an interest in misleading the population on this point.
The assault on living standards
The government and its allies have launched a huge attack on living standards, accompanied by a major propaganda offensive that wages are rising sharply.
Why Sunak and Biden are not Keynes, Corbyn or McDonnell
Austerity measures are integral to the current economic policies of the US and UK. They amount to an all-round attack on wages and the social wage while there is a temporary boost to demand. That is why it is extremely foolish and misleading to compare them to the policies of Corbyn, McDonnell or Keynes.