The End Austerity Now national demonstration in London this Saturday (20 June 2015) attracted over 250,000 people, by far the biggest single showing of public anger against the British regime in over a decade. Unions, political parties, activist groups, and individuals came together under a single clear message – we won’t tolerate capitalist austerity that puts profit before people.
Unlike previous protests and demonstrations which were the be-all and end-all of the movement against war, austerity, or other capitalist attacks on the working classes of the country and the world, there was more resolve to actually take the fight to the imperialist government and their sacred cows in banking and business. There have been calls for not just more demonstrations and voting for the ‘nice’ imperialist party (Labour), but for strikes, and general strikes as well. As some speakers noted ‘socialism’ is not an unfashionable or dirty word amongst the general population again, it is a legitimate (as well as the only real) solution to the constant assault of the ruling class.
Workers in Britain have been forced to confront the reality that imperialism and capitalism is their enemy, and to rediscover the powerful tools they can wield by educating, organising, and uniting to fight for the interests of our own class rather than our rulers.
While many left-wing organisations rallied around voting for the Labour Party (the party of the Afghan war, Iraq war, and the continuation of privitisation and the groundwork for permanent austerity) as the solution, many groups attending have seen through this dismal betrayal of left-wing politics and the selling-out of the working class and are looking for a real challenge to austerity, capitalism, and the established imperialist parties.