Tories Attack Democracy

That David cameron and the Tories should call for BA workers to strike-break is not surprising. It is fully consistent with their class politics and outlook. But, nevertheless the blatant way they have done so tells us something important about their attitude to democracy. As a result of the anti-union laws introduced by the Tories in the 1980's, and not repealed by New Labour, workers in Britain are more hamstrung in trying to defend their interests than in any other western European country. Its ironic that BA workers might get support from workers in Europe and the US via secondary action, but such support would be illegal in Britain!

Despite all of the hurdels that the Tories have put in the way of British workers taking action to defend themselves, the BA workers, in the face of heavy handed intimidation by management,jumped all those hurdles, and voted by an 80-20 majority to take strike action. But the Tories call for this overwhelming democratic to be ignored! They call on a small Minority to reject the decision of the majority. So much for their belief in democracy. And, of course, that tells us what the attitude of the Tories and the bosses in general would be if a majority of workers decided to elect a Government that was serious about defending and furthering workers interests too. The Tories would not be slow to reject the views and decisions of the majority either, and instead would use their power to impose their Minority interests.

After all, we have seen in the past the Tories support Dictators like Pinochet or the Apartheid regime in South Africa. But, the fact that the Tories and the bosses have contempt for democracy is no reason for socialists to adopt the same kind of attitude, as the Stalinists and others have done in the past. For Marxists only the most consistent democracy will do. Indeed, our fundamental task as set out by Marx, is to win the "battle of democracy", to convince the vast majority of workers not just that the present society is rotten, but that they must cosnciously struggle for soemthing compeltely different, a Co-operative society in which the means of production are brought increasingly under their direct ownership and control.