By Julio Santana – ISL United Kingdom
Ostentatious and obscurantist ceremonies expressed a great contradiction of the government, the regime and the system: parasites squander fortunes while workers and the people suffer. The call for a general strike and the formation of a new political alternative of the left are urgent necessities.
An obscurantist and ostentatious unction
On May 6 the coronation ceremony of Charles III and Camilla Parker Bowles, his beau turned into Queen Consort, took place In Westminster Abbey. The son of Elizabeth II was “anointed, blessed and consecrated” by the Archbishop of Canterbury who, in the name of God, placed the Crown of St. Edward on him. Bowles was presented with Queen Mary’s diamond-encrusted crown. The galas displayed only a few of the Crown Jewels which are kept in the Tower of London as the most valuable collection in the world. Among the royal family, princes, dukes, dukes, barons and knights, there were 2,000 parasites invited. For a thousand years the British elites have been proudly repeating the same obscurantist, rancid and ostentatious rites.
An anachronistic and decadent regime
The glamour with which the events were presented should not hide the fact that it was the celebration of English pirates, historically slavers, colonialists and invaders of the Falkland Islands. “The Firm” (as they call the British monarchy) not only has both a nefarious past and present. That is why it imposes laws such as the Public Order by which the police arrested eight anti-monarchist activists the Monday before the coronation, or the law related to taxes on its large fortune, among others. They override everything, even the existing sham democracy in the UK. The task of extinguishing the monarchies that subsist under the protection of the capitalist system continues.
Luxuries of the few using money of the many
In a display of unlimited cynicism, the acolytes of the monarchy remarked that the ceremony was less expensive than on previous occasions. What is really remarkable is that it was paid for with funds granted by the government. That is to say that, ultimately, it was carried out with money coming from the pockets of the working people. And it was done in one of the worst moments of the capitalist crisis, with inflation, low wages and growing poverty. These are reasons for which there were also signs of discontent. This is how the privileged squander the funds needed to meet the needs of the people, the health system and public education. In the Kingdom of the Upside Down, the absurdities that characterize the capitalist system all over the world come to the surface.
Dispute over the continuity and depth of the struggles
The workers’ struggles have taken a historic turn since the time of Margaret Thatcher, that is why we spread and support them from the very day they began. At the same time there are debates about the continuity and depth of the conflicts. For example, health workers have been abandoned to their fate by the union leadership, which is betting on attrition and on reducing the strength of the claim. In addition, there’s a serious decision of the majority leadership not to coordinate actions, nor to call for a general strike. All the effort has been made by the workers. The bureaucrats contribute to the objectives of reversing the dynamics of confrontations and their impact on the conscience of thousands of activists and to pave the way towards an institutional solution to the crisis. Supporting the struggles, uniting them and demanding that the union leaderships call for a general strike are immediate needs. But they are not the only ones: it is necessary to set up a new political alternative.
First tendencies in the municipal elections
On May 5 the municipal elections were held to elect authorities in London, Wales and Scotland. The Conservative Party suffered a heavy defeat with the loss of 1,063 councilors and 48 town councils. Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is unable to reverse the social rejection of the scandals of Boris Johnson and the economic disaster of Liz Truss, who preceded him in office and had to resign. On the other hand, the Labor Party gained more than 100 seats, the Liberal Democrats and the Greens grew. The Party led by Sir Keir Stamer will try to capitalize on the popular will for change in the 2024 general election.
For a new left alternative
The regime will apply more and more repressive laws to try to control the situation. And the “opposition” will continue to support the bipartisanship with which they sustain the institutional regime and the capitalist system. However, nothing will be easy for them. The awakening of the workers movement with its struggles of the last year and the reborn independence ambitions in Scotland and Ireland are the storm clouds of changes, challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. We revolutionary socialists call to fight as in France and to set up a new political alternative, of the left and consequently anti-capitalist. With a program of transitory measures so that the capitalists pay for the crisis. So that the workers and the people govern with a just system, without monarchs or bosses, without exploiters or oppressors, that is to say, with a socialist system.