Blog archive - January 2010

This is a free blogging space for LRC members. Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the LRC.

When the system fails, it makes war

Marie Lynam
30th January 2010 at 22:47
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Hello comrades
I read with interest John McDonnell’s Column in the February Briefing.
There are aspects worth investigating regarding how Brown and Balls came to be represented as ‘reluctant cut merchants’, as John says.
It is interesting that the Times prints Darling’s reassurances that, yes, yes, yes, Britain is going to halve its deficit in four years, and that all concerned (Pimco etc) should rest assured that Britain will do it. Could the investors rest assured that Britain will keep its AAA gold-plated credit rating – please!  All this from Darling, supported by Mandelson.
As far as I can understand, this was a way of telling finance-capital that its safest Party in Britain is New Labour - safer than the Conservatives. The interesting bit is that The Times believes it, and writes positive editorials about Darling (details on demand).
As far as Finance capitalism is concerned, the Conservatives are not so interesting. They are too tied up to national-landed interests and national-corporate interests. New Labour is not tied in that way. On the contrary, it is encouraged by Finance Capitalism to out-do the Conservatives.
Like Jesus returned, Mandelson recommended acceptance of the Cadbury takeover by Kraft. But Cadbury was created - whether one likes or not - by the British national bourgeoisie. The British capitalist class worked at making Cadbury an element of national identity at a time when it was strong and could afford to look into the future. Then, it could seek the long-term interests of the country and take pride in the health, satisfaction and loyalty of its workers.
The Kraft takeover was a kind of asset stripping. Kraft was in debt at the start of the purchase and is now £20 billion in debt after the purchase. It did not have the money to buy Cadbury. Kraft’s only superiority over rival Hershaw is that it has finance contacts that can manipulate share values in Kraft’s favor (they all share the gains in the end). Millions have entered private pockets (advisers, lawyers, banks, executives) and the workers (by being sacked) will pay back Kraft’s debts. Kraft knows how to do it : It has already closed 35 plants and sacked 7,000 workers in 4 years.  [continue/comment...]

This is a free blogging space for LRC members. Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the LRC.

Member development

carlr
26th January 2010 at 07:30
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Labour hasn’t taken the job of educating and training its membership about the Party for a long time, preferring to rely on caricatures which confirm tabloid stereotypes of “Old Labour.” So when the leadership suddenly falls back on its heritage, many people see this as a cynical move. [continue/comment...]

This is a free blogging space for LRC members. Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the LRC.

International connections

carlr
26th January 2010 at 07:24
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I wonder if the LRC would be interested in establishing connections with parties in Europe and around the world. After all, it’s always good to gain an international perspective on many shared problems, whether we believe in the EU as the answer or not. Any thoughts on this?  [continue/comment...]