Britain

Defending living standards not the EU is the biggest issue in British politics

1st July 2017 Socialist Action 0

By Jane West

Labour’s successful campaign, in comparison with the Tories’ set back, at June’s General Election was due to the growing rejection of austerity, which trumped May’s assumption that a mandate for Brexit would be the decisive issue. The fact that defence of living standards, not the EU, is the biggest issue in British politics was also at the root of the setback for both the SNP and the Lib Dems in the election.

Labour is a government-in-waiting

26th June 2017 Socialist Action 0

By Ian Richardson

The latest opinion polls show that Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party is on course to win any early general election. This is why not just the Tory Party but the entire political and economic establishment is desperate to prevent there being any early election, despite this meaning a weak and ineffective government.

Labour right to blame for failure in Scotland

22nd June 2017 Socialist Action 0

By Robin Jackson

The failure of Scottish Labour to match the spectacular General Election advance of Corbyn’s Labour in England and Wales allowed the Tories to benefit from a sharp fall in support for the SNP. The 12 new seats that the Tories won in Scotland were the margin which has allowed Theresa May to project a putative House of Commons majority in alliance with the DUP, rather than be forced to handover to Corbyn or call a new General Election. Although Scottish Labour made some small recovery over 2015, it nonetheless polled less than the Tories and the SNP, meaning Labour came third in vote share for the first time in a general election in Scotland since 1918.