The Labour party, Jeremy Corbyn

1. 【重新思考社會主義】論壇
Corbynism：左翼政治的重生？
從工人觀點
批判官方左翼
26 Aug 2017
周世瑀

2. The political terms Left and Right were coined
during the French Revolution (1789–1799),
referring to the seating arrangement in the
Estates General: those who sat on the left
generally opposed the monarchy and supported
the French revolution, including the creation of
a republic, while those on the right were
supportive of the traditional institutions of the
Old Regime.
See Wikipedia

3. The Haitian Revolution was a successful anti-
slavery and anti-colonial insurrection by self-
liberated slaves against French colonial rule in
Saint-Domingue, now the sovereign nation of
Haiti. It began in 1791 and ended in 1804 with
the former colony’s independence. It was the
only slave uprising that led to the founding of a
state, which was both free from slavery, and
ruled by non-whites and former captives.
See Wikipedia

4. 左翼係指資產階級左翼，簡稱官方左翼。可以是
執政黨或在野黨 (ie The Democratic Party,
the Labour Party, PS, SPD, Greens,
Podemos, PSOE, Syriza, DPP) ，或不以政黨
形式出現的(民間的、官方的、半官方的或學術的)
團體。官方左翼普遍存在於(已開發&開發中的)
資產階級國家。

5. 官方左翼當代特徵
1)依附資產階級國家；
2)不挑戰國家體制在資本主義制度下的正當性
(ie 支持發展主義、資本化的工業發展)；
3)抱持國族主義；
4)不支持國際工人階級的團結；
(ie團結和認同的對象為資產階級)；
5)對外政策是現實主義(或/和新古典經濟學政策)
的展現 (ie 資本輸出、外包或軍事擴張)。

6. George Orwell observed in 1939 that “In a prosperous
country, above all in an imperialist country, leftwing
politics are always partly humbug. There can be no
real reconstruction that would not lead to at least a
temporary drop in the English standard of life, which
is another way of saying that the majority of left-wing
politicians and publicists are people who earn their
living by demanding something that they don't
genuinely want. They are red-hot revolutionaries as
long as all goes well, but every real emergency reveals
instantly that they are shamming. One threat to the
Suez Canal, and ‘anti-Fascism’ and ‘defence of British
interests’ are discovered to be identical.

7. George Orwell observed in 1939 that “It is quite true
that the English are hypocritical about their Empire.
In the working class this hypocrisy takes the form of
not knowing that the Empire exists.
“What we always forget is that…. It is not in Hitler’s
power… to make a penny an hour a normal industrial
wage; it is perfectly normal in India, and we are at
great pains to keep it so.”

8. One gets some idea of the real relationship of
England and India when one reflects that the per
capita annual income in England is something over
£80, and in India about £7.
It is quite common for an Indian coolie’s leg to be
thinner than the average Englishman’s arm. And
there is nothing racial in this… it is due to simple
starvation. This is the system which… we denounce
when there seems to be no danger of its being
altered.

9. The symbiosis of British Welfare State &Imperialism
The Beveridge Report, aka Social Insurance and Allied
Services, was an influential document in the founding
of the welfare state in the UK which was published in
November 1942.It was chaired by the Liberal
economist William Beveridge. The Report came in the
midst of war, and promised a reward for the sacrifices
undertaken by everyone. Highly popular with the
public, the report formed the basis for the post-war
reforms known as the Welfare State, which include the
expansion of Nat’l Insurance and the creation of the
Nat’l Health Service.

10. Tony Norfield examines the intimate relationship
between British Welfare State and Imperialism
Churchill indicated in his 1943 speech entitled “Post-
War Councils on World Problems: A FOUR YEAR
PLAN FOR ENGLAND” that “we must establish on
broad and solid foundations a national health
service’ and that there was ‘a broadening field for
State ownership and enterprise, especially in relation
to monopolies of all kind”

11. The rationale for Churchill’s support of welfare
spending for the working class was that for Britain
‘to keep its high place in the leadership of the world
and to survive as a great power that can hold its own
against external pressure, our people must be
encouraged by every means to have larger families’.
Supporting more education spending, he added that
the ‘future of the world is left to highly educated
races who alone can handle the scientific apparatus
necessary for pre-eminence in peace or survival in
war’

12. The UK Labour party is a bourgeois party & an
imperialist party.
Ernest Bevin in 1946: I am not prepared to
sacrifice the British Empire…. I know that if the
British Empire fell… it would mean that the
standard of life of our constituents would fall
considerably…. In conjunction with our Allies
and small countries let us prepare the soil in
which these great plants of democracy may
grow together for the benefit of humanity.

13. Ernest Bevin in 1947: The British interests in the
Middle East contribute substantially not only to
the prosperity of the people there, but also to the
wage packets of the workers in this country…. I
want to make this declaration from the
Government’s point of view and my own; I cannot
be a party to an act or policy which would result in
lowering the wages and purchasing power of Great
Britain. Let those who want to do this be honest to
their constituents and tell them what the effect of
their ambitions would be on the pay packets of the
people they represent.

14. Clement Richard Attlee
served as the Prime
Minister of the UK from
1945 to 1951 and the
Leader of the Labour
Party from 1935 to 1955.
The Anglo-Iranian oil
company

15. Labour MP Harold Wilson stated in 1953 that
sterling’s further decline against US dollar could
be resolved through a reduction in imported US
goods and the intensification of the exploitation of
colonies and Commonwealth countries. In his
word, “it might be a good thing to stir him [Foreign
Secretary Anthony Eden] into action. There are
very many schemes that can earn and save dollars
and we want to know about them.

16. There is copper in Rhodesia [equivalent in
territorial terms to modern Zimbabwe] and
Uganda; zinc and lead in Nigeria and tin in
Uganda and British Honduras. We have to
face the working out of the tin reserves in
Malaya, before many years are over. There
is, too, bauxite in Jamaica, manganese in
India and South Africa, tungsten in Uganda,
beryllium in India and columbium in
Uganda.

17. I am sure that these things are being considered by the
Foreign Secretary….
Perhaps the most important step in the Commonwealth
development would be for the Government to work out
now a wide-ranging geological survey of Colonial
Territories. 1 agree with much which was said by the hon.
Member for Harrow, West (Sir A. Braithwaite); I do not
think that anyone in the House would deny that the
answer to all our dollar problems may well be found 200
or 1,000 feet below the soil in the Colonial areas, and a
really imaginative geological survey might possibly solve a
lot of our problems over rather a long time.”
For a full text, see 510 Parl. Deb., H.C. (5th ser.) (1953)
1786-1787.

18. Michael Foot firmly supported the Falkland
war
Tony Blair’s pro-war and pro-capitalist was
not some aberration or accident. Rather, it
was a logical extension of labour foreign
policy.

19. Thatcher’s legacy of privatisation
British Petroleum October 1979
British Aerospace February 1981
Cable & Wireless October 1981
Amersham International (the development &
manufacture of radioactive materials for peacetime
uses in medicine, scientific research and industry)
February 1982
National Freight Corporation February 1982
Britoil (British oil company operating in the North Sea)
November 1982
Associated British Ports February 1983

20. Enterprise Oil July 1984
Jaguar August 1984
British Telecommunications December 1984
British Shipbuilders 1985 onwards
British Gas December 1986
British Airways February 1987
Rolls-Royce May 1987
British Airports Authority (ie Heathrow Airport) July
1987
British Steel December 1988
Water December 1989
Electricity 1990

21. Thatcher: There is no
alternative.
Late in 2002 Thatcher
came to Hampshire to
speak at a dinner.
Taking her round at the
reception one of the
guests asked her what
was her greatest
achievement. She
replied, “Tony Blair and
New Labour. We forced
our opponents to
change their minds.”
http://conservativehome.blogs.com/centr
eright/2008/04/making-history.html

22. Tracking the cost: UK and
European rail commuter
fares compared – in data
https://www.theguardian.
com/money/datablog/201
7/jan/06/tracking-the-
cost-uk-and-european-
commuter-rail-fares-
compared-in-
data?CMP=share_btn_tw

23. Jeremy Corbyn pledges ‘fat cat tax’ on
big businesses paying £330,000
salaries
private ownership of the means of
production vs public ownership of the
means of production
Pubic ownership does not imply state
ownership (ie USSR)

24. John Smith: Since 1991, the US has stepped up its
pressure on Cuba. When the Soviet Union collapsed,
the US pressed its remnants to cancel their economic
links with Cuba, and in an eight-month period Cuba
lost 85% of its foreign trade. Yet, through the hard
work, creativity and capacity of struggle of millions,
Cuba has survived. Without help from any bank or
government, despite eleven years of austerity, Cuba has
not shut a single school, hospital or old people’s home.
Infant mortality, already lower than anywhere else in
the Third World, has declined further and is now lower
than in the United States itself.

25. Fidel Castro: A cultured, rebellious, brave
and heroic people such as the Cuban could
never be ruled by force, nor can a force exist
that would rule it because the Cuban people
is the force. Never would our people stir up
rebellion against themselves because they
are the revolution, they are the
government, they are the power.

26. Those Who Make Revolution Halfway
Only Dig Their Own Graves
the Gini coefficient

27. Thatcher’s legacy of privatisation
British Petroleum October 1979
British Aerospace February 1981
Cable & Wireless October 1981
Amersham International (the development & manufacture of radioactive materials
for peacetime uses in medicine, scientific research and industry) February 1982
National Freight Corporation February 1982
Britoil (British oil company operating in the North Sea) November 1982
Associated British Ports February 1983
Enterprise Oil July 1984
Jaguar August 1984
British Telecommunications December 1984
British Shipbuilders 1985 onwards
British Gas December 1986
British Airways February 1987
Rolls-Royce May 1987
British Airports Authority (ie Heathrow Airport) July 1987
British Steel December 1988
Water December 1989
Electricity 1990
Fidel: they [the
Cuban people] are
the revolution, they
are the government,
they are the power.

28. Shadow chancellor John McDonnell said that Labour
can “lay the foundations of a new society that is
radically fairer, more equal and more democratic” if
it takes power in 2020.
McDonnell said that will require a “transformation
in how capitalism in Britain operates” that will end
Britain’s overreliance on financial services and
create a fairer tax system.
Labour will foster an “entrepreneurial state” that will
support industries like steel and renewables by
boosting demand.
https://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/a-4ad4-Labour-will-be-more-
radical-than-Attlee
23 May 2016

29. Chatham House has been at the forefront of
thinking on Britain’s role in the world. So with
the General Election less than a month away,
it’s a great place to set out my approach: on
how a Labour Govt I lead will keep Britain safe,
reshape relationships with partners around the
world, work to strengthen the UN and respond
to the global challenges we face in the 21st
century.
https://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2017/05/jeremy-corbyns-chatham-house-speech-full-text/

30. Corbyn: “We in the radical end of the left of the
unions and the Labour Party have got to be
realistic that NATO is a major problem and a
major difficulty and we have to campaign
against NATO’s power, its influence and its
global reach, because it is a danger to world
peace and a danger to world security.”

31. Labour Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily
Thornberry said in May 2017 : “ I think that’s a
quote from six years ago, and Jeremy has been
on a journey… the predominance of opinion
within the Labour Party is that we are
committed to NATO.”

32. An reactionary expression of the
“Defence of the Fatherland”

33. Orwell: In a prosperous country, left-
wing politics are always partly humbug.
My conclusion: The independent
mobilisation of the working class is
what it takes to overthrow capitalism
and to transform the existing order.