Statement of the Executive Committee of the Young Communist League on the imposition of Boris Johnson as the new Prime Minister of the UK.

Today Boris Johnson has been foisted on the British people as the next Prime Minister of this country. The YCL completely rejects the legitimacy of Johnson and the Tory Party’s coup.

The only way forward for the youth and working people of Britain is a general election now – to elect a left government, to implement a People’s Brexit.

Democracy in Britain

What entitles Boris Johnson and the decrepit Tory Party to declare him Prime Minister? Who voted for Johnson? 160,000 (allegedly) Tory Party members.

Who are these Tory members? Overwhelmingly old. Over 83% are over 35. Overwhelmingly white. 97% are white. Overwhelmingly male. 7 in 10 are men. Overwhelmingly not members of the working class. But this is just the latest in a long series of democratic affronts inflicted on the peoples of Britain.

Ruling class parliamentary ‘democracy’ in Britain has always been deeply flawed and ultimately a cleverly constructed façade. This has been revealed even more clearly in the period since the Brexit referendum in June 2016. Our ruling class would have us believe Britain is a model democracy, but this government have ridden roughshod over longstanding Parliamentary conventions and any pretence of democracy.

Following the 2017 general election Theresa May failed to win a majority in support of the Tory manifesto. Her solution? Cobble together a majority to force through her programme with the aid of the right wing and fundamentalist Democratic Unionist Party. Theresa May’s Brexit deal, the central plank of her manifesto, was rejected by Parliament not once but three times. In normal circumstances repeated defeat on a key issue, a matter of confidence, would prompt a government to fall and declare a general election. Instead the Tory Party, chief representatives of Britain’s ruling class, have cynically clung to power.

The Tories argue that in the last election, the electorate voted for their party rather than Theresa May. But in the last election they lost their majority, being forced to rely on the DUP. May’s claim to legitimacy, their party’s claim, is nothing more than a sham. A trick that is getting worse as the months grind on. Today we have a racist, homophobic Etonian imposed on us with no say.

What answer should come from Britain’s working people in this context?

General Election Now

The solution is clear. What the country needs is a general election. That is the only way we can honour the clear democratic mandate given in the 2016 Brexit referendum.

The Tories’ tainted, DUP supported ‘mandate’ is in tatters. All key pledges from their manifesto have been abandoned or defeated. The Tory Party have never commanded the confidence of the majority of people in Britain. Their shameless capture of government demonstrates the sham of democracy in Britain.

Britain needs a left-led government, in time including Communists, to fight for improved living conditions, higher wages, housing, free education and the NHS. Labour remain the only party capable of removing the Tories at the next election. However Labour can expect to suffer electoral defeat if they adopt an anti-democratic, anti-working class, pro-Remain line.

The only policy which can unite working class voters is to respect the referendum result and to work to achieve a deal most favourable to working people. This can only be delivered with a strong Communist Party and a mass extra parliamentary shift centred on the trade union movement.

The fight for a People’s Brexit in the general election to come is not only key to winning that election – but also to guaranteeing progressive advances from the government which follows.

Full Brexit Now

Britain’s Communists are clear on the danger of the present situation. Democracy is in jeopardy. The only answer is to deliver a People’s Brexit.

Failure to deliver Brexit will set a very dangerous precedent under Britain’s already crooked system. It will open the door to the far right and fascist forces to make substantial gains. Where UKIP had collapsed after the vote in 2016, the far right Brexit Party made significant gains at the last election.

The calls for a second referendum are an anti-democratic trap. The central premise of the campaign is the idea that working class people did not know what they were voting for or were otherwise duped. At its core their argument is that Britain’s working class is too stupid to be trusted with questions of national sovereignty or the economy. In their view the question of leaving the EU should never have been posed in the first place and certainly not entrusted to working people. They deliberately conceal the long running abuse of referendum processes by the EU. Where a referendum produces a problematic result, the EU will simply either re-run the vote or ignore it. Just ask the voters of Denmark, Ireland, France and the Netherlands. If they’re successful Britain will just be the latest victim.

The anti-working class, anti-democratic and anti-socialist nature of the EU is clear as day to anyone who wants to see it. Whereas delivering a full Brexit and a break with the right-wing EU would open the space for left-wing policies and progressive change. Cancelling Brexit will cement the power of the unelected EU Commission over the peoples of Britain and the rest of Europe for decades to come. Only by breaking with the EU can we build an economy that works for working people, free from neoliberal economic policy and complex rules on public ownership, state aid for industry and public procurement which hold us back.

Join the Communists

Britain’s young workers and students need a strong Communist movement determined to fight for our class.

In the immediate term we fight for a left led government and a progressive exit from the EU. We work to build the broad movements fighting against austerity and for workers rights and peace. We’ll be campaigning in our communities, campuses and workplaces for a general election now and People’s Brexit. We call on all democrats, socialists and trade unionists to join us.

In fighting for the needs of the hour, we’re always building the struggle for peace and socialism in our lifetime.

If you’re serious about socialism, join the Communists today.

General Election Now!

Full Brexit Now!

Executive Committee

Young Communist League

23 July 2019

London Britain

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