I've included below a letter I've just written to the Weekly Worker, newspaper of the Communist Party of Great Britain (
www.cpgb.org.uk). Although about UK and US politics, many countries have big budget deficits so this letter may be of interest to those living elsewhere in the world.
Eddie Ford ('National government danger comes with hung parliament', March 4) points out that a national government of Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Tories would massively attack the living standards of working class people. But so would a Labour or Tory government if either party got an overall majority. The only differences are how soon and severe the government would try to impose the cuts and tax rises, whether they lead to a double dip recession, and how effective the masses would be in their resistance to such measures.
Eddie points out that, due to participating in Ramsey MacDonald's national government, "the Labour Party was politically decimated - taking a decade or more to recover." The question arises: Do we want the Labour Party to recover? Or do we see people getting disillusioned with Labour as a positive thing, helping lead to a new mass revolutionary socialist party capable of challenging for power?
In my letter last week (March 4), I suggested that the left should campaign for the ending of tax loopholes and havens, and for the nationalisation of all the banks with compensation only to pension schemes (not "on the basis of proven need" as Militant called for in 1990 when I joined and its descendents in the Socialist Party and Socialist Appeal still call for today, which would lead to many court cases). I added (but it was edited out) that banks should be run democratically from below with representation for borrowers and savers, who after all have money at stake, rather than there being just workers' control. If socialist (and perhaps Green) candidates put out such policies on election leaflets, we could stand a chance of winning a significant number of seats, forming a minority in parliament (linking up with left-wing Labour MPs and perhaps some Lib Dems) ready to support the mass movement, and perhaps bringing the government down.
The current political discourse is dominated by the three mainstream parties, whose policies differ very little, with anodyne debates in the media. A new polarisation between those supporting cuts and those opposing them would be very welcome indeed, and a national government or Labour-Tory coalition would aid that polarisation.
The CPGB presumably wants a Labour victory, but that would lead to Labour being blamed for attacking our living standards, with the Tories likely to be the main beneficiaries electorally. Barack Obama is cleverly setting up a "bipartisan commission" involving Republicans as well as Democrats to decide how the US deficit will be reduced, so that he and his party don't get all the blame for attacks on ordinary working and middle class people.
But bear in mind that a hung parliament does not necessarily lead to a coalition. There could be a minority government like in Scotland, with parties and MPs deciding how to vote on different issues according to their merits (arguably an improvement on the previous Labour-Lib Dem coalition where the parties cobbled together compromises and MSPs voted for things they didn't necessarily agree with). This could be an improvement too on a Labour or Tory victory.
The CPGB supports proportional representation. Great! But PR makes hung parliaments much more likely, so be prepared for the consequences!
