At last the EU referendum is at hand. On 23 June workers can make the most important blow against capitalism in Britain in 70 years by voting to leave.
Forget all the fluff about which politicians or personalities are for in or out. Overwhelmingly those representing the interests of capitalism – especially finance capitalism – are for staying in. Of course they are. Capitalists love it because it belongs to them – it was designed by them, for them, it serves only their interests and they are desperate for it to survive to continue that mission. Its very constitution enshrines the freedom of capitalism to rule, unfettered in every way.
The lie that the EU protects workers at all and that it can be improved from within – a lie shamefully peddled by unions such as Unite and by Frances O’Grady at the TUC – is so easily disproved that you have to wonder about their motives.
Britain’s EU membership has exerted a slowly tightening stranglehold over workers here. Gradually, control over all aspects of our lives and our capacity to determine the future of our country – our fundamental democracy – is being handed over to Brussels by successive governments. If we voted to stay in the EU this diktat (remember Greece?) would be rapidly accelerated, not only for Britain but for all member countries. We owe it to ourselves and to them to leave. A vote for the status quo is impossible.
In spite of our weaknesses, the working class here has shown an underlying strength through its constant undercurrent of opposition to the EU. The capitalist class knows it cannot easily get away with what it wants. For them, this referendum is a huge gamble.
‘A decision to leave would be a new beginning to self-respect and independence for our class’
A decision to leave the EU would be a new beginning to self-respect and independence for our class. We will be able at last to plan a future in which the distortions forced upon our economy by the EU can be steadily corrected. We can do the things we are good at, using the resources we have to hand. We can stop being “little Europeans” and begin to think globally – and hence trade, as equal partners, with Europe but also with the rest of the world.
Above all, we can make our own decisions and plan for a future. Governments come and go, but leaving the EU would hugely weaken capitalism and strengthen us.
Since its founding in 1968, this Party, the CPBML, has put the working class demand that Britain should not be part of a European superstate. We will continue, in meetings, through Workers and our website (see our new page, cpbml.org.uk/leave), and by putting the argument in trade unions and with fellow workers, to outline why this is right – not with the romantic wishful thinking often expressed by the europhiles, but by using hard facts and material reality to show why this must be the only choice.
Out of the EU!