UK: Crisis of Capitalism - Prime Minister Johnson's End

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Johnson faces the worst crisis of his tenure as prime minister as government ministers and key Conservative figures ditch his government.

Socialist Alternative (ISA England, Wales, Scotland) Statement

(This article was first published on July 6, 2022)

Johnson's government is in the worst crisis of his term. Cabinet heavyweights have publicly dumped him for the first time.

Despite the efforts of others to try to save him, their efforts are likely to be ultimately in vain.

This crisis of government is rooted in the general crisis of British capitalism, and as the economy is heading for the abyss, the wave of working-class struggle is heating up and is gradually becoming something in the imagination of millions of workers and youth.

The perfect storm of crisis has shattered the foundations of Johnson's shaky right-wing populist Conservative "coalition". A new period of turmoil is beginning in British politics.

Cabinet officials resign

Conservative ministers have already jumped ship in search of self-preservation. Rishi Sunak said he could no longer defend Johnson's actions.

In his resignation letter, Sunak explained that the public expects "the government to do its work properly, competently and conscientiously," before adding that if the public feels "something is too good, then it is false. ' - an apparent reference to his disagreement with Johnson over economic policy.

Sunak exposed the divergence between his economic policies (seemingly advocating greater "fiscal discipline") and Johnson's. If Johnson can stay in power, he may begin to push populism further, such as tax cuts for the stronghold of Conservative Party supporters.

Sajid Javid called for "humility, insight and (finding) a new direction", noting he and Johnson were doing "completely different" approaches.

The following morning, School Affairs Minister Robin Walker, Treasury Secretary for Economic Affairs John Glenn and Children and Families Minister Will Quince, along with a number of not-so-heavy Cabinet figures and Secretary, both resigned along with Javid and Sunak.

With numerous cabinet officials resigning and issuing damaging resignation letters denouncing the current prime minister, most prime ministers will understand that staying in power is impossible under such circumstances.

But on the contrary, Johnson still clings in vain to his belief that he can defy political justice and quickly replace Sunak and Javid.

Johnson's former chief of staff, Steve Barclay, will now take over as health secretary at a time when the health service is experiencing a severe nationwide crisis.

Nadim Zahawi has reportedly made the job of finance minister a condition of remaining in the cabinet, so that he will take over the management of an economy with the worst inflation and the worst economic growth expectations of the G20 countries except Russia!

Michelle Donelan, who succeeded Zahavi as education secretary, was elected to parliament in 2015. She boasts on her resume that she has marketing experience at Marie Claire Magazine and WWE. The distinguishing feature of characters like her is their maddening devotion to Johnson.

Johnson has taken political nepotism to new heights in his efforts to stay in power.

As one former minister quipped, Johnson is like Rasputin, a courtier in the last years of Tsarist Russia — who could not die despite multiple attacks, including poisoning, drowning and shooting.

The Openness of Conservative Party Infighting

The Conservative Party is now completely divided, openly fighting. For the Conservative Party's crisis-ridden leadership, the situation now comes since the "Partygate" scandal, in which the UK government partyed with Tory officials in 2020-21 in breach of the government's own lockdown measures, began to surface. , another whole new crisis situation. Johnson has gone through crisis after crisis, but the tolerance of his loyal supporters has been tested too much.

It's very likely that he won't be able to last long. But he has his sights set on the summer recess in two weeks, and his opponents are equally determined to get him out of Downing Street (the prime minister's residence) by the end of the month.

The government is now in a state of complete paralysis and turmoil, its fate being held in the hands of a prime minister whose only interest is in staying in power at all costs.

The final straw that broke the camel's back was the conduct, record and performance of former deputy whip Chris Pincher, on which Johnson has denied all negative allegations and blatantly lied about them.

The details of this are not unimportant. But the broader context—Johnson’s decline and hypocrisy as a microcosm of the decay of the capitalist system, and the key development of the strike wave that is now accumulating—is the real cause of the crisis.

According to multiple reports, Pincher has committed multiple cases of sexual assault and harassment in and around the Palace of Westminster (the Houses of Parliament) and the Carlton Club, where Conservative elites drink.

It may well be just the tip of the iceberg that he was forced to resign as party whip following complaints that he sexually assaulted some Tory activists at clubs.

Johnson initially hoped the issue would be resolved, but then it was discovered that Pincher had been investigated for the conduct as early as 2017 and had not been cleared.

At first, Johnson claimed he knew nothing about Pincher when he was appointed deputy whip, despite his resignation over previous allegations.

At this time, Lord MacDonald, a former senior civil servant, said on TV that Johnson did know about Pincher's behavior.

Seriously humiliated, Johnson had to make another U-turn on one issue and once again grovelled in a public apology.

In fact, Johnson knew what Pincher was like, but he needed an enforcer and loyalist to whip an increasingly rebellious parliamentary party.

The truth came out again, humiliating himself and the entire party.

In effect, Johnson has lost the confidence of his backbenchers, most of whom, along with Tory members across the country, backed a vote of no confidence in June.

He was completely discredited among the broad electorate, and unexpectedly unpopular. Johnson was considered to be the most successful local Conservatives winning elections in both the former "Red Wall" (the former Labour iron core and north of England) and the "True Blue" (the Conservatives iron core south-east of England). good assists, and now he is seen as a huge burden, as the past two by-elections have shown.

Election disaster looms for the Conservatives, especially with Johnson at the helm.

When the Conservative Party's electoral prospects are threatened, the party has always been ruthless, and now those at the top will be forced to act decisively, just as they did when former Prime Ministers Theresa May and Thatcher were ousted, no matter what. How successful Johnson has been in the past, it is time to abandon him as soon as possible.

He'll probably resist just as stubbornly, so when he finally steps down, the whole fight will be humiliating and unbearable.

The sleazy and sexual assault scandals looming over the Conservative Party reveal a horrific culture of abuse at the Palace of Westminster and Parliament, which are essentially the sinkholes of Britain's traditional social elite.

The Conservative Party is full of arrogant privileged people who think they are blameless for whatever they do; and when faced with charges, it is always found that the problem is not an isolated case, but a chain of people.

Johnson is the epitome of this attitude, but as the #MeToo movement and public outrage over the case of Sarah Everard (the woman killed by a London police officer in March 2021) has shown, society is moving forward.

This sexist, misogynistic, racist and oppressive behavior is abhorred by most of the working people.

In the past year, five Conservative MPs have been forced to resign for the above-mentioned acts, which were serious and shocking.

No fewer than 56 MPs, including three cabinet ministers, were investigated for serious misconduct.

In no other workplace would such a lack of immediate accountability be tolerated. But this style is the kind of culture that Johnson has encouraged and fostered. And now he's running out of time.

Johnson government crushed by capitalist crisis

In reality, however, the Pincher scandal would be just a small footnote in Johnson's ouster history.

His credibility has been completely ruined by the "Partygate" scandal that has driven away most of his former supporters.

At present, the quagmire of various crises is engulfing and crushing British capitalism.

Inflation has reached an all-time high this century and shows no signs of coming down.

Every day, more and more figures emerge showing that all segments of society are struggling with rising costs, with the poorest being the hardest hit, with no end in sight.

This is evolving into a massive cost-of-living crisis, with living standards getting worse.

Johnson's response was simply to go further and further from what he had done, calling on the nation to boycott actions including a strike by the transport trade union RMT for better pay, working conditions and job protections.

However, polls show that despite a lot of negative coverage in the bourgeois media, the majority of the population still supports the RMT strike - and given Johnson's precarious position, support for the strike may now grow further.

When Prime Minister Johnson's own finance ministers have called him "incompetent", no one will heed his call for restraint. Workers will feel more emboldened to demand a push for fair pay from a weak government.

The wave of summer strikes will continue, with workers voting or preparing for action in the postal service, education, health, public administration, communications and other areas.

This is a wish that cannot be fulfilled in the House of Representatives. Likewise, the UK is facing a looming recession, which is estimated to be the worst of any leading industrialised nation other than Russia.

This will further exacerbate the existing crisis in workers' living standards and offset the uptick in economic activity in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

We risk seeing unemployment rise again, companies go out of business, and living standards take a further hit.

Britain's economic woes were exacerbated by Johnson's botched Brexit deal, with exports taking a hit while more expensive imports continued unhindered, fueling a vicious circle of inflation.

Johnson's real vision is to turn Britain into a modern Singapore, relying on finance, services and high technology, and one other important point - low wages. He is pursuing this goal, but does not have the corresponding infrastructure to implement it.

Now, Johnson's decision to scrap the Northern Ireland Protocol will further heighten tensions with the EU and could lead to another round of unnecessary trade wars, while increasing sectarian tensions between Catholics and Protestants within Northern Ireland.

Johnson will also be remembered as the prime minister who accelerated the division of Britain, with Tory leaders in Wales and Scotland calling for him to step down.

These are multiple, interconnected economic and political crises in the UK that themselves exist in the context of a series of global crises in capitalism – from climate catastrophe to a new Cold War between the US and China.

The Ukrainian war formed one of those key positions. The war will continue for months or even years.

Johnson's attempt to make a major battle rhetoric on the world stage may have earned him praise from Zelensky, but it did nothing to help Ukraine's working class - in fact, it would make the world a more dangerous place.

We cannot rely on the Conservatives to get him out of office. At the same time, Stamore's Labour Party offers little combat power and is definitely not a political alternative.

The fast-growing working-class movement in the workplace has a responsibility to link each other's struggles, escalate those actions, and deliver the decisive final blow to Johnson.

But a mere government makeover, with another Conservative prime minister, will not ease the serious crisis facing the working class.

Johnson's dangerous "culture wars" of attacking the oppressed (in the most recent form of horrific reactionary anti-refugee rhetoric) may escalate later as the candidate to succeed Johnson seeks to win over the party's reactionary members.

Remove Johnson and all Conservatives from office!

The Conservative Party must be driven out. And the labor movement has the potential to make that happen.

Unions must take this opportunity to massively intensify their offensive, escalating action with more strikes, coordinating across industry sectors and moving quickly to a strike vote.

Our movement must be swift and decisive to remove this abominable government from power. Harnessing the combined strength of the organised working class, linked to the developing social struggle and protests against the sharp increase in the cost of living, mobilized a mass movement to bring down the current government.

Such a movement must also aim to overthrow the rotten capitalist system, which the so-called opposition parties now wholeheartedly embrace.

Socialist ideology - public ownership of the means of production and democratic planning of production - is the only real way out of us from the chaotic and brutal nature of capitalism.

Fighting for this kind of thinking requires us to put the issue of a new Left Party of Struggle on the agenda in order to advance the interests of the workers politically.

But most importantly, we need to build an organization with a clear Marxist program to transform society along a socialist line.