The road to dictatorship in Britain
JVL Introduction
George Monbiot writes in rage against the Tory government giving itself draconian powers to curb the right to protest.
Despite the over 600,000 people who signed a petition in protest – even before recent proposed amendments which vastly increase the powers to suppress dissent – the press remains largely silent.
Johnson’s bumbling is an act. Under its cover, “he’s now exploiting the failings of our political system, with voter suppression measures, attacks on the Electoral Commission and judicial review, extensions of the Official Secrets Act and threats to the Human Rights Act”.
Where is the parliamentary opposition?
“As for the Labour party,” writes Monbiot, “if not now, when? Those who excuse its silence say it’s keeping its powder dry. For what? An election held in the future, when effective opposition is even harder than it is today? Unless it fights these measures, by the time it decides to use its fabled powder, the battle may already have been lost.”
This article was originally published by the Guardian on Wed 8 Dec 2021. Read the original here.
As we turn away, Boris Johnson is grabbing more power. Where is the opposition?
The government is adding terrifying amendments to the policing bill, putting the UK on a path to dictatorship
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An incremental process which we have seen before as detailed here:
https://press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/511928.html
“You see,” my colleague went on, “one doesn’t see exactly where or how to move. Believe me, this is true. Each act, each occasion, is worse than the last, but only a little worse. You wait for the next and the next. You wait for one great shocking occasion, thinking that others, when such a shock comes, will join with you in resisting somehow. You don’t want to act, or even talk, alone; you don’t want to ‘go out of your way to make trouble.’ Why not?—Well, you are not in the habit of doing it. And it is not just fear, fear of standing alone, that restrains you; it is also genuine uncertainty.”
Brilliant article.
I have friends who believe that this government’s Covid policies are part of some dark conspiracy to gain dictatorial control over us. They haven’t seen that, ever since Johnson tried to prorogue Parliament so that he could arbitrate his own powers in relation to the EU, there has been a sustained attempt to subvert what little democracy this country has. His Covid policies are vague and misleading; but they do not offer the kind of threat this does. As for the Labour Party, Starmer is doing nothing more than confirm once again the opinion so many had of him when he came into the leadership and which he has never given us cause to change.
George has hit the nail on the head we must listen.
“He has surrounded himself with people who, like dictators’ cronies the world over, appear to be as threatening as they are damaged.”
Unfortunately this sentence (and much else) applies as much to the leader of the opposition and his gaggle of acolytes as it does to Johnson, though Starmer clearly recognises that he cannot emulate Johnson’s talents as a clown. If anything the myrmidons who now wield power in the Labour party are even more totalitarian than the Tories, as evidenced by Wirral councillors recent disgusting treatment of Jo Bird.
In effect the British régime is now a one party state, a financial oligarchy which uses the trappings of parliamentary “democracy” as an ideological cover for its final destruction of the implicit postwar social contract. This is the ultimate fruition of Thatcher’s domestic program, which was not as she claimed the destruction of “socialism”, but rather the destruction of social democracy and the welfare state. Ironically of course it is precisely the longterm success of this destruction, and its dystopian social consequences, which have caused a resurgence of radical socialist ideas, which can now principally find expression only in an extra-parliamentary activity: hence the need for draconian laws to repress such activity. But who will enforce this repression and how? How will socialists develop a programme to collaborate in non-sectarian structures to outflank this repression with sheer force of numbers? These are urgent questions.
Never forgetting, George Monboit was one of The Guardian journalists who traduced Jeremy Corbyn, thus, giving this – ‘the most dangerous prime minister’ – and his cronies a helping hand, into government.
Yesterday, he was on Twitter, posting ‘why, oh why’ tweets, wondering why ‘the left’ and ‘the right’, of the Labour Party, can’t get along.
Apparently, George has not heard of the Expulsions and Suspensions. The police officers stood in the aisles, at Conference. The gerrymandering pre-Conference. The, excruciatingly, Long Wait for the publication of The Forde Inquiry Report.
In fact, George seems to be out of the loop, in regard to internal Labour Party politics, over the past twenty months.
It would appear that any information George is getting about internal Labour Party politics, is misinformation. He should check his sources, and , perhaps, be more selective about whom he listens to.
Perhaps, he could start a Guardian Chapter of the Jeremy Corbyn Peace and Justice Project. Goodness knows, there are many Guardian – and elsewhere – journalists who could do with the education.
Before the last election so many Jews announced that they were packing their bags in case Corbyn became PM. Now courtesy of the actual PM, welcomed with open arms by too many in mainstream Jewish organisations, there is real fear following the passage of the Borders and Nationality Bill that many people whose parents had indeterminate status could lose their right to British citizenship. That surely means that people Jewish or not will be keeping packed bags ready. I wonder whether like Johnson the ‘great and the good’ of the Jewish community are having buyers’ remorse
Kill this bill
People have the right to demonstrate to challenge the government
yes George Monbiot is better G journalist who had a blind spot re Corbyn . He was not quite in the class of some of the others. Freedland was particularly vicious and totally unable to be objective just repeating the lies he has seen in MSM. Others like James O’Brian on LBC was another.
It is very sad that the state of objective fearless journalism has deterioated to the extent it has in the UK .
I share George Peel’s reservations about Monbiot.
Yes it seems we have a weak and inefective opposition who itself doesn’t seem to be acting in an honourable way hense the expelling of innocent party members including one of our best filmmakers, who’s only crime is they don’t fit into the present club.
Does there need to be another labour leadership election? do members need to protest to force it? before its too late.Help! We need Jeremy Corbyn and John Mcdonnell and team back in the driving seat for the sake of democracy. Someone save us from this present situation please.
I wonder where we start to collectively to fight this undemocratic autocracy. Monibot is just another side of the establishment who feel threatened by the new situation. O`brien and his ilk are reactionaries dressed as liberals. They chip away at socialism and socialist ideas. What to do?
Diana Neslen, it’s even worse than that. The Bill allows British citizenship to be stripped from anyone who could claim citizenship of another country – they don’t have to have actually CLAIMED it (or even be aware that they could claim it), they just have to be eligible for it. This is obviously racist and likely to be used in a racist manner. I, with an Irish father and hence the ability to claim Irish citizenship, can’t help but feel a little worried and disconcerted. I mean, it’s unlikely to be used against me, but it’s very disconcerting to know that it could be.
Members of JVL should consider this. I believe that anybody who is Jewish is eligible to claim Israeli citizenship (whether they want to or not). Hence, under a strict interpretation of this law, anyone who is Jewish could be stripped of their British citizenship. It’s very unlikely ever to be used that way – but isn’t it a little worrying/disconcerting that it could be?
I can’t help feeling that if Jeremy Corbyn had proposed something like this, somebody would have said something. Got to wonder why those people are being so quiet now…
I also share George Peel’s reservations. Monbiot’s article is “brilliant”…a brilliant piece of catastrophism.
If the opposition is as useless as Starmerised Labour undoubtedly is, there is no need for a “dictatorship” in any case. We have one party rule as it is,
The Tories have never been reluctant to push through repressive laws. Industrial Relations Act, anyone? The latest legislation now contemplated by the bumbling Oaf and his gang is exactly that: repressive and reactionary and wholly in the interests of their capitalist pals but not dictatorial.
Instead of dealing in alarmism, socialists should be organising to resist Tory laws and to tear government away from them.
We have to strengthen, even rebuild, the entire labour and trades union movement with strong rank and file organisations that can remove the right-wing Labour leadership and start making life difficult for the Government.
If Insulate Britain and Extinction Rebellion can do so, why can’t we? A start might be made by supporting the railway workers in their battle with the Government, a battle that The Oaf seems to want to be his Miners’ Strike.
It’s taken you a while for this editorial to hit my emails 🙁 and it comes far to late. Boris and his cronies are well on there way to a dictatorship and no opposition 😡
George Peel: “The, excruciatingly, Long Wait for the publication of The Forde Inquiry Report.”
Will it ever be published? Indications/suggestions that if it ever is, it is going to be redected into banality. What, I wonder, dangers can it hold for DE, KS ?
[This comment has been edited for length. It was originally twice our normal limit of 300 words.]
Some great comments from the contributors. None of us should be surprised at Starmer’s lack of opposition. This is my reply to Roger Silverman’s FB post on his suspension from the LP.
It tells the story of a Traitor to Socialism and the people.
Roger, Starmer has only ever had One aim, since he became an MP. He was still green behind the ears as an MP, when he campaigned for Owen Smith in his challenge to get rid of Jeremy Cornyn, Why? because JC supported the Palestinians and condemned Israel’s abuses towards them. That seems to have been missed by those that voted for him as Leader. Since becoming Leader, he’s turned the LP into a Dictatorship, going against policies that the Members voted for at Conference. Sacked Rebecca Long Bailey on a Lie (see link at the end of these comments). It was his Undemocratic People’s Vote that lost us hundreds of thousands of natural Labour voters, yet pathetic Starmer blamed Corbyn over and over again.
I have made an official complaint against him, that was a few months ago, haven’t heard back since they told me it would be going in front of the NEC.
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