“We can work together to develop a strategy not just to oppose this government, but eventually to rid us of it.”
By John McDonnell.
There is a change in the air, with a new wave of radicalism sweeping through the trade union movement, alongside a flowering of all those movements fighting the Tory offensive. From the Black Lives matter movement, to those battling to defend our NHS, to climate justice activism, to the recent anti-Policing Bill protests and many more, people are fighting back. Numerous industrial disputes have broken out, from the college lecturers in UCU to PCS members successfully striking in the Royal Parks to Unite beating off fire and rehire tactics of employers.
Central to this is rank and file activity in our workplaces and communities. After years of austerity – with wages often still below wage levels of a decade ago and the growth of casualised, insecure work – people are fed up and organising for change themselves. We need to be there with them.
The growing wave of activism reflects also a loss of confidence in the political route to improving the lives of working people with the election defeat of Labour in 2019. Keir Starmer’s retreat from the policy programme upon which he was elected leader has also contributed, with trade unionists and others no longer relying upon Labour adopting a radical agenda anytime soon. We on the Labour Left need to make it clear that we are the allies of those taking the fight to the Tories, and there is a great deal to be learned from the creative approach to organising employed by these social movements and smaller unions, which is why bringing together such a diverse range of activists is so crucial at this vital time at the Johnson Out – Resist the Tory Offensive online event this Saturday.
This growing grassroots resistance to the Tories has arrived in the nick of time for many working-class people, and the daily revelations of rule-breaking Tory politicians – who have lined the pockets of family and friends with Covid contracts – is exacerbating existing feelings of injustice and unfairness across the population. People don’t just want Boris Johnson to go – they want the system to change too.
At Saturday’s vital event, there’s a whole range of different campaigns that have come together, who are campaigning against the reactionary legislation this government is pushing through; the way in which another wave of austerity is hitting our communities; and from the industrial strikes that are taking place at the moment to protect wages and jobs.
People are on the march – and what we’re doing this Saturday is bringing those people together to talk about the way we can work together to develop a strategy not just to oppose this government, but eventually to rid us of it.
Please then join us online this Saturday (January 29th) at 2pm when we’re talking about how we can rid ourselves of the Johnson regime – Johnson Out, Resist the Tory Offensive!
- Join John McDonnell, Shami Chakrabarti, Richard Burgon, and a range of speakers from across the front-line resistance against the Tories at 2PM Saturday, January 29th for the #JohnsonOut rally. Register and see the full line-up here.
- Help build the call for #JohnsonOut #ToriesOut by sharing John McDonnell’s message on Facebook here and on twitter here.
