For a new democratic politics

Some leading political commentators have suggested that the present crisis gripping Parliament over fiddled expenses will fuel what they term “anti-politics” and that this is dangerous because it could play into the hands of the far right like the British National Party.

Seumas Milne was at it The Guardian, declaring that “the greatest danger of this week's parliamentary disgrace is the boost it will give to anti-politics: the roar of rage that they're all the same, the cynicism that nothing can ever really change”, while Steve Richards in The Independent has written that this week’s revelations have a “grisly simplicity that will fuel the existing anti-politics orthodoxy”.

The implication is that to be against “politics” as practised at Westminster is bad and dangerous. But surely Milne and Richards are making the mistake of identifying “politics” with democracy, confusing form with content. They are not the same thing. Politics is, according to dictionaries, the “art and science of governing” or “political activities” and opinions. So it’s difficult, if not impossible, to be “against” politics on these terms.

Democracy is a relatively newcomer in the modern history of politics and it is this side of the political equation that was struggled for in Britain by ordinary people who demanded a voice. The country was on the verge of revolution in 1832 when the ruling classes finally conceded a limited franchise. Chartists built a mass movement and laid plans for an insurrection in their struggle for the vote for working men.

If the disdain for Westminster “politics” has reached a crescendo, it is precisely because these historical gains which produced a representative, albeit limited, democracy have been undermined. Decisions at national and local level are made regardless of majority opinion – ranging from the invasion of Iraq, airport expansion, post office closures to bank bail-outs. When workplaces shut down because of the capitalist crisis we are not consulted. It is fait accompli. In terms of “political choice”, the differences between the mainstream parties are slim to non-existent.

So to be against this kind of “politics” is healthy and to be encouraged. Of course the political crisis opens the doors to the right, as it did in Italy (where the reformist left also had their chances, only to blow them because of their subservience to the same system). But it also creates opportunities if we can raise our horizons beyond the narrow confines of the parliamentary system and how to make it work better. It is better to see “anti politics” as a form of antimatter, containing vast amounts of potential energy that could provide the fuel for a new political democracy.

The current system is narrow, inadequate and operates to mask the real centres of power in British life - the executive, state institutions and the corporations. No amount of fiddling (pardon the pun) with the issue of MPs' expenses will change that. If the contempt for Parliament has reached new heights, it is because large sections of the electorate have for some time felt alienated politically, restricted to electing "representatives" once every five years to a body that is itself toothless.

The anger generated by the expenses' scandal could be mobilised to create new, alternative forms of democracy that, for example, give people power in their workplaces and communities along the lines suggested in the People's Charter for Democracy. By advocating an extension of democracy we can spike the guns not just of the BNP and the Tories, but of the state within the state that is watching and plotting in case Britain should become ungovernable at a time of mounting economic chaos.


Paul Feldman
AWTW communications editor

New debt time bomb primed

As the economy heads inexorably for catastrophic collapse, the failure of capitalist politicians to come up with any answers – or indeed accept any responsibility for the crisis – is glaring. That, however, does not mean there are no solutions to hand. It’s just that they don’t spring from a conventional approach to what’s happening. 

New Labour has temporarily bailed out the banks with up to £500 billion of taxpayers’ money, slashed interest rates and cut VAT. Yet none of this has made the slightest difference to the economy. Major firms are going to the wall, falling like ninepins – including Wedgwoods, Woolworths, Adams – while others like Marks and Spencer are slashing staff numbers. Unemployment is soaring as are repossessions. 

Waiting for the economy to “bounce back” through the defiant action of consumers spending in the shops is not going to happen. A new survey  shows that a quarter of all British families will have no disposable income at all in 2009. Worse, much worse, is around the corner without decisive action to fundamentally change the political and economic landscape – in the shape of a corporate debt meltdown. 

The real story behind the financial crisis is the relentless, reckless and ultimately unsustainable “growth” driven by the corporations. The aim was to sustain profits but, as the cost of goods fell, this could only be done through greater and greater sales. This treadmill was maintained and funded by loans and bonds of one sort or another. In turn, these loans fuelled the financial markets, which bought and sold corporate debt. This led only in one direction – to a world of fantasy finance, which is now in the process of disintegration. 

Now much of this corporate debt is up for repayment - and hard-pressed banks are not in a position to take no for an answer. As the Sunday Telegraph explained: “For many companies which have survived the credit crisis the greater challenge lies ahead - the task of navigating through a record £110bn of debt that will have to be repaid in 2009. 

“But the bomb was primed by the companies themselves as they drew down hundreds of billions of pounds of cheap debt over the last decade to help fuel growth. Now that world has come crashing down and the money drawn has become a ticking time-bomb with companies waking up to the stark reality that lenders are demanding their cash back.” 

There is no way that the capitalist state can bail out corporations and banks at the same time. And what difference what it make if they could? None! The prospect of this kind of financial Armageddon, with accompanying job losses, defies every-day thinking. That’s why we have to build a movement that is prepared to move beyond the severe limitations of the existing political and economic framework. 

As the People’s Charter for Democracy says: “The existing system of government fails to represent the interests of the vast majority of people … the state’s primary purpose is to promote business interests at the expense of ordinary working people.” It goes on to suggest new forms of democratic rule. 

The Charter also indicates a way out of the economic crisis, through a transfer of resources to “co-operative forms of ownership and workplace control of major corporations, enterprises and services” and to “eliminate speculation and profit as the basis for society”. These are revolutionary ideas and proposals. But with the economic crisis out of control, they are eminently practical and necessary. Sign the Charter petition today and build the momentum for change. 

Paul Feldman
AWTW communications editor