The Fall of Boris Johnson?

With the government mishandling of the coronavirus pandemic, the ‘green-washing’ at COP26 and the current corruption scandal that won’t go away, Boris Johnson is losing his reputation as the Teflon politician. Internationally, the wave of support for right-wing popularism which has been occurring since 2016 is beginning to ebb as it becomes clearer that its leaders are incompetent, dishonest and are being caught up in similar scandals to the Tories. This brings both danger and opportunity.

Amongst many leftists it is a mystery as to how right-wing popularism – or ‘nationalistic oligarchy’ as we might call it – could have done so well in the first place. Like the socialist revival it was a response to the fall of neo-liberalism which failed so badly in the face of economic depression and has also failed with the pandemic. Neo-liberalism called for a small state and reliance on markets and flows of global capital. The obvious reaction to this was to strengthen the state, and the easiest way to do that was through an appeal to nationalistic sentiments. Nationalism evokes an appeal that is both anti-globalist, and – like socialism – opposed to individualism. As it turns out many people were willing to sacrifice their civil, democratic and economic rights to bolster the state and fight globalisation. In some ways, a socialist government’s control of nationalised corporations is similar to corporations owning the government – although the social results are quite different, both amount to stronger sovereign power over the economy. Many found a nationalistic response to globalisation simpler to understand than a socialistic one, suppressing the rights of foreigners and the ‘woke’ gives some people the impression that ‘normal’ British will get a larger slice of the cake.

The problem for right-wing popularism is that economically it often treats the majority worse than the global neo-liberal regime did. Although some of its adherents may get an ego-boost and feel superior to the ‘outsiders’, their material circumstances have mostly gotten worse, while billionaires become even richer and more powerful. Like neo-liberalism, right-wing popularism cannot adequately fight the existential threat of climate disaster. Therefore, even without the lies, corruption and incompetence right-wing popularism was always bound to fail. Its failure is beginning to show and it is only a matter of time before it is replaced by something else. The pusillanimity of the Labour party and the incapacity of the Tory government leaves a power vacuum that will somehow be filled.

What could fill it? Ostensibly, there could be a return of a reformed neo-liberalism. To win electorally this new form would have to be far more active, and attempt to direct capital into fighting climate change and possibly introduce Universal Basic Income. But centrist parties are faring badly everywhere, Kier Starmer is just as unpopular as Boris Johnson and has no vision to speak of. A more dangerous alternative would be a further lurch to the right: If the ‘woke’ are too ‘soft’ to stand up to globalisation in the name of their nation, could they be physically repressed by a draconian government that made it clear that it was not worried about the niceties of democracy and freedom? This would mean the right embracing Fascism far more literally and sincerely than it has done so far. It may be the direction taken by Boris Johnson or his Tory successor.

The obvious solution to these problems is democratic socialism. But while activism, campaigning and industrial action in support of transformative change are at their most prevalent since the 1980s, the parliamentary left is just as weak as the Labour right. Activism can only work when backed up by a parliamentary opposition – for if Labour ignores protesters the government is free to ignore them too, being unlikely to lose votes on the matter. Whilst activists can win some battles they cannot achieve any kind of transformation while the opposition is so weak. Out of the left, the centre and the right, it is still the right that has the best ability to act, all due to the bias in the media, establishment and electoral system. The left must gain a strong voice in parliament – even while it is unlikely to get into government, in combination with activists and campaigners it can act as a brake on the extremes of government policy.

For the foreseeable future there is no chance of the left re-acquiring the leadership of the Labour party. Even if it did the party would be divided and unelectable, as it was under Jeremy Corbyn. The most optimistic future for Labour would be a soft-left compromise candidate like Angela Rayner replacing Starmer as leader. But such a leader would most likely lean to the right as the right are so much more powerful in the parliamentary party, and they would not countenance many progressive policies. The left in its current state would immediately surrender to such a regime. This quasi-progressive party would be of little use to activists who want transformative change, and its neo-liberal streak would give the Tories the advantage electorally.

At the moment left wing MPs show no sign of awaking from their stupor. They are putting forward no unified agenda for change, they offer little leadership to the various campaigning groups in society – the most they try to do is to defend themselves from attacks by the Labour leadership. They must be pressurised into forgetting their differences and combining behind a leader who can articulate the demands of democratic socialism. The fight against climate disaster and for climate justice is the obvious campaign that could unite them.

There is little chance that the Labour right will make a peace with the left under present circumstances. But if the left were separate and had their own power base there would be more chance of this happening. At the moment the Labour leadership can undermine the left through bureaucracy and the institutions of the party – take these away and the right will have to deal with the left as equals. The Labour right would have no chance of leading a government without an alliance with the left.

The 35 MPs of the Labour Socialist Campaign Group must organise independently from the Labour Party, either as a party within a party or a completely separate entity. The usual complaint of leftists against this is that it would be electoral suicide – but they contradict themselves in this assertion: The same people tell us to be optimistic for the future because many young people support radical change – if there is so much support why would a socialist party necessarily be doomed? If things continue as they are, all these young people will have no candidates for change to vote for, and things will never change. Arguing against a separate socialist entity in parliament is self defeating for progressives.

Unless progressive parliamentarians take some sort of independent action the UK is likely to end up like Hungary and Russia, where democracy has been severely undermined and the same nationalistic parties always win power. The Labour right would not oppose such a system – it maintains that leftists have ‘nowhere to go’, it is undermining the party membership, and obviously has little in the form of democratic credentials. We will end up in a situation where change is impossible even when the majority are demanding it, and the status quo is untenable. The SCG is the only available organisation that a viable opposition movement can coalesce around.

Please sign this petition for the SCG to create a separate and viable progressive opposition in parliament.