As Trotsky set out, the demand for nationalisation, itself, is only one that Marxists can advocate, in certain specific conditions. That is, in conditions of general revolutionary upheaval, of essentially, dual power, or impending dual power in society. It is only then that such a demand is transitional in nature, and the demand is then addressed not to a capitalist state, but to a Workers Government of centrists (elements wavering between reformist and revolutionary Socialism), Stalinists, and Mensheviks (I use the term Menshevik, deliberately, to differentiate such reformist socialists from the bourgeois social-democrats of today that dominate the main workers parties). As Trotsky says, this demand is, then, raised not because we have faith in such a Workers Government carrying it out, and certainly not in the interests of workers, but precisely to expose the fraudulent nature of such formations that vacillate, and always refuse to actually seize power, and use it against the bourgeoisie. It is the method of permanent revolution, also spelled out by Lenin, in his April Theses, and Letters On Tactics.
It is used in conditions, where the revolutionary situation enables the Marxists to expose the inadequacy of the Workers Government, and to win over the masses, still under the sway of bourgeois-democracy, to the politics of revolutionary socialism, and to demand that power, then, pass to those revolutionary masses organised in workers councils, factory committees, and other such organs of direct proletarian democracy, and state power. Just to set this out, is to show how far it is from the current conditions of a petty-bourgeois, reactionary, nationalist, Blue Labour Government, under Starmer, being led into the proposal to nationalise “British” Steel, and doing so, whilst a nationalistic, and racist campaign is being waged, in the capitalist media, to blame China for the failure of the "British" steel industry. Of course, the Chinese company that came in to rescue “British” Steel, in Scunthorpe, was, itself, the fourth company brought in to try to make it viable.
We, now, hear that, in order to operate efficiently, the Scunthorpe plant must not be hamstrung by all of the “woke” (whatever that means) concerns over the environment that are, also, supposed to explain the inefficiency of “British” steel production, as it has to abide by environmental policies for Green energy, and reduction of carbon emissions. To be honest, I don't think you have to be in the least “woke”, if you or your kids suffer from asthma or emphysema, or COPD, and other health conditions, as a result of living near to some hugely polluting industry, to recognise the need to clean it up! But, already, we are told that to save Scunthorpe all of those woke, green policies will have to be ditched, just as to do a trade deal with Trump, we will have to eat chlorinated chicken, GM food and other such stuff, all of which would, of course, mean that the possibility of having any kind of closer trading relation with our main trading partner, the EU, on which Britain relies for its economic future, despite Brexit, would disappear.
The coke and coking coal, itself, of course is imported. Thatcher, as chief shareholder in the "British" nationalised coal industry, in the 1980's, having defeated the miners, started the process of closing down all of the remaining coal mines, so, without the coal mines, and associated coking plants used to power not just steel production, but also power stations and so on, it must be imported. A rumour then circulated in the media, as anti-Chinese racism, and war hysteria is whipped up, that the Royal Navy was going to have to be used to ensure the safety of the ships bringing in the coke for supply to Scunthorpe. Safety against what, of course, was never spelled out, but the implication was clear. If we need “British” steel for national security reasons, to protect us from the “inscrutable” and untrustworthy Chinese, and their connections to the “mad” Putin, then, obviously, we need the “British” Navy to protect those vital imports of coke from the impending attack.
But, the logic of that is also clear. If we need “British” Steel for security purposes, to produce the tanks and so on, then, if the steel can only be produced economically by abandoning all of the green “nonsense”, and using coal (even lovely, “clean” coal, as Trump calls it, in his own version of this logic), then, it, also, means that the coal and coke should be produced in Britain, too, for reasons of national security, and so all of the coal mines should be reopened, and so on. This is the Trumpist, reactionary, economic-nationalist logic that flows from the trajectory of Starmer and Blue Labour's argument in relation to Scunthorpe, and is consistent, also, with their economic nationalist ideology when it comes to Brexit, and to sucking up and kissing Trump's ass, to try to get a deal.
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