It states “No2EU Yes to Democracy is an electoral platform. It is a trade union-backed alliance of political parties and campaigning groups.”
There’s nothing about how the alliance decides on policy or action, but there seems no way that workers can participate directly and vote. So it is not a democratic workers’ organization.
Another page is Our supporters
This has a list, “All in a personal capacity”, of mostly trade union leaders, with a few apparently rank and file members. So again, there seems to be no official support from existing democratic workers’ organizations.
As for policies, the About us page lists the following:
- Reject the Lisbon Treaty
- No to EU directives that privatise our public services
- Defend and develop manufacturing, agriculture and fishing industries in Britain
- Repeal anti-trade union ECJ rulings and EU rules promoting social dumping
- No to racism and fascism, Yes to international solidarity of working people
- No to EU militarisation
- Repatriate democratic powers to EU member states
- Replace unequal EU trade deals with fair trade that benefits developing nations
- Scrap EU rules designed to stop member states from implementing independent economic policies
- Keep Britain out of the eurozone
A moment’s thought shows this is not only nationalistic but fails to mention any challenge to the British bosses’ agenda. What about UK privatization and anti-union laws (brought in by Thatcher, kept by Blair/Brown)? What about our own military, currently waging war overseas, and our nuclear weapons program?
Talk of “defending” the economy in Britain (and stuff the workers of Europe?) is naïve as well as nationalist. How will keeping out of the eurozone help, when even the US dollar is threatened with collapse? Oh yes, we have the mighty pound!
How can any state “implement independent economic policies” in a global capitalist economy in global crisis? And what hypocrisy to talk about “unequal EU trade deals” – as if trade deals have ever been fair between imperialist states like the UK and developing nations.
“Repatriate democratic powers”? Just what democratic powers did workers have in the UK or other member states before the EU came along? Certainly, with regard to the economy: NONE. But the clear implication is that we would be better off under UK capitalism than we are under EU capitalism.
In fact, the British state has opposed EU social reforms, like limits on the working week, as well as being dragged to the European Court on civil liberties, as with the infamous 'police kettle' tactic. Of course, European capitalist institutions will not protect us, but neither will our 'own'.
It’s absolutely right that we need a new workers’ and youth party in Britain. It’s just as clear that this rehash of ‘left’ Labour/CP reformism is no basis for such a party. Nor should we be waiting for the outcome of the elections to (as they seem to hope) give credibility to some self-appointed group.
A new workers’ and youth party will only be built based on struggles, fighting British, European and global capitalism, with a program to overthrow the system here and abroad. To succeed, a British workers’ and youth party would need to become part of an international workers’ and youth party, too.
