A radical campaign can chase the Tories out

This general election is an opportunity to kick out the Tories and break from a decade of austerity, scapegoating of Muslims and migrants, and inaction over climate change.

If the Tories lose the election on 12 December, it will be a blow to every tax-dodging billionaire and bigot in Britain. One financial adviser to the super-rich explained that “a Labour government under Corbyn is a much greater threat to them than Brexit”.

If Labour wins, it will make working class people more confident to fight the bosses.

The Socialist Workers Party wants to see a Jeremy Corbyn-led Labour government and backs a vote for Labour across Britain.

We will be out on the streets as an independent force arguing for a vote for Labour.

For Labour to win, there needs to be a surge of class feeling.

A campaign that goes beyond just canvassing can draw in tens of thousands of working class people who aren’t normally involved in politics.

The big Corbyn rallies during the 2017 general election helped to transform the mood and made the left feel on the front foot.

Crucially, resistance in the streets, campuses and workplaces can boost the feeling for change.

Confront

Everyone should take their lead from medical student Julia Simons, who tried to confront Boris Johnson at a walkabout in Addenbrooke’s Hospital last week.

Wherever Johnson goes, he must be hounded by protesters.

Campaigns such as Stand Up To Racism, Keep Our NHS Public and climate movements can hold joint days of action in the streets to drum up opposition to the Tories.

Strikes by workers in Royal Mail and in universities could electrify the political atmosphere.

The climate movement has shown that strikes, direct action and protests can shift public opinion on a mass scale.

A majority of people said the climate crisis would affect how they would vote, according to a poll published last week.

If Extinction Rebellion and the school strikers hadn’t taken action outside “official” politics, support for action on climate change wouldn’t be so high.

But resistance isn’t important just because it would help Labour get elected. Real power in society lies outside parliament—with corporations that make all the big economic decisions.

To win a world that puts people and planet before profit, we need to confront the power of capital.

Even if Labour wins, that will still be the case.

The rich will pull out all the stops to undermine a Labour government, let alone fundamental change.

And it will take mass mobilisations, not parliamentary manoeuvres, to take them on.

We call on Socialist Worker supporters to help to shift the mood in society during the election and build the resistance we need to get real change.