Jeremy the Dragon Slayer
TODAY, 23rd of April 2017: the Birthday of William Shakespeare and Saint George’s Day, [Patron Saint of England] Jeremy Corbyn announced that under the Government led by him elected on 8th June 2017, St. George's Day will become a National Holiday. Jeremy has shot a very old Tory Fox.Boris Johnson promoting St George's Day 2009 |
"The game's afoot: Follow your spirit, and upon this charge Cry God for Harry, England, and Saint George! "Shakespeares HenryV Act III
Boris's Morris Men
THERE was a push by Boris Johnson when he became Mayor of
London to popularise public celebrations of the ‘Feast of St. George’.
Petitions were circulated calling for the Day to become a ‘National Holiday’
for England. By April 2010 hundreds of Local Councils followed Mayor Boris’s
lead, organising and funding St George’s Day Events in Town Centres across the
land. Within 5 years the impact of ‘Austerity’ reduced many of these events to
the sorry spectacle of a Cheap B&Q Gazebo outside Poundland, bedecked
in plastic flag Bunting, where reluctant toddlers are forcibly ‘face painted’
with a Red Cross and offered a ‘Werthers Original’ by a Morris Dancer wearing
‘Black Face’.
St George’s Day in most towns in England has all
the pageantry of a Tumbril Wagon full of plague corpses clunking down the High
Street as the driver shouts ‘Bring Out Yer Dead!” at nervous shoppers.
This problem with St George’s Day is symbolic of the problem
of England. Some of those promoting St. Georges Day have peculiar notions of
this land and the people who live here. Their imagined community of ‘England’
remains a fiction of White, Anglo Saxon, Christian, and Crusader Culture. Eton
educated Boris was calling upon Saint George in London to rally the white
guards to fight off Red Ken Livingstone’s multi-cultural hoard. The context of
the Mayoral Election of 2012, was the shadow cast by widespread Rioting in the
Capital triggered by the murder of Mark Duggan by the Metropolitan Police.
Boris’s strategy worked and in 2012 he narrowly beat Ken Livingstone for a
second time. [several hundred of potential Ken voters were still rotting in goal
for Looting a 6 pack of Evian Water] Meanwhile, in the Shires, it was always
the Tories and Kippers pushing for St. George to be properly celebrated with
public money , hot on their heels were the middle class, right wing EnglishDemocrats. The English Defence League angrily co-opted St George into their
battle against Islam, supporters often using imagery from the Crusades on
social media, as if they were still at the Siege of Antioch in 1098 awaiting
divine intervention. Like Boris there is something squalid, unkempt, retarded and unfinished about England's identity.
Unfinished Business
Gerard Winstanley - Digger |
The outcome of the great social upheaval that radical
elements of the Revolution fought for never materialised, a nascent Republic
‘The Commonwealth of England” was short lived. Instead, Cromwell's invasion of
Ireland led England soaking with blood into the imperialist construct of the
Union.
The ‘British State’ emerged, with a restored Monarchy, a
Glorious Dutch Invasion, more slaughter of the Irish and Acts of Union in 1707
& 1800. This ‘United Kingdom’ shackled all the peoples of these islands
to the project of Empire building nearly as firmly as it shackled the bodies of
millions of African Slaves below decks on the Atlantic crossing. An Evil
Empire, based on brutality and super - exploitation gathered the resources
allowing space for innovation and experimentation that powered the Industrial
Revolution. The first modern Working Class emerged in England, brutalised by
the new machine age.
Unfinished business soon reared its head - English
Radicalism in the shape of the Luddite Revolt in the Midlands and North of
England expressed the continuity of a Republican and Revolutionary tradition.
The Jacobin influence of the French Revolution and the ill-fated UnitedIrishmen Rebellion continued to inspire proletarian autodidacts who passed on
their cherished copies of Tom Paine’s ‘The Rights of Man’ and Mary
Wollstonecraft’s ‘Vindication of the Rights of Woman’ to their sons and
daughters who still hungered for justice.
Maxine Peake reading Shelly at Peterloo Memorial 2015 |
Radical Republicanism in England
THIS Radical Republican tradition in England was to
experience its most prolonged and heroic expression during the decade of
Chartism in the 1840's.
Engels wrote The Condition of the Working Class in Englandin 1844 beginning his lifelong admiration and fascination for the most despised
and demonised section of this working class the Irish Migrants many of whom
played such a leading role in both Chartism in England and the rebuilding of an
Irish National Liberation struggle against the backdrop of Famine in their
homeland. Of course, however, heroic or prolonged the resistance to the
Imperialist British State was, all these struggles ended in failure.
Nevertheless, this thread of radicalism which always included elements of
collectivism, internationalism, support for the liberation of women and support
for religious freedom, did represent a form of continuity. Many individuals
involved in the continuing struggle for a better, fairer world today can trace
that continuity back through the generations of their own family history. As
the fascination with TV programmes like ‘Who do you think you are?’ grows so
does the numbers of people who are discovering the hidden history of their own
families.
Truth Recovery
IN the past decade there has been a remarkable process of
truth recovery. Episodes of Working Class History in England that are not
taught in schools. or are little known, have been brought back to life through
the work of socialists and trade unionists. The Huddersfield LudditeBicentenary Events in 2012; The success of the Wigan Diggers Festival; The
growing popularity of the Levellers Day in Burford and Tolpuddle MartyrsFestival in Dorset. Events in living memory are also a focus for
commemorations.
The 30th Anniversary of the Battle of Orgreave events
exposed the true nature of the South Yorkshire Police, reinforcing demands for
JusticeForThe96 football fans killed at Hillsborough on 15th April 1989. The
40th Anniversary of the Grunwick Strike brought memories of the historic
struggle for Trade Union Rights lead by Asian women in North London back to life. Saint Georges Day 2017 is also the 40th Anniversary of ‘The
Battle of Wood Green’ - The first big defeat of the National Front in April
1977 will be celebrated by a Diversity Festival organised by Harringey TUC
People's Power |
As well as preserving the memory and lessons of past
struggles we need a new theoretical approach to update our understanding of the combined and uneven development of the Working Class in England. We need to pick up the threads left by EdwardThompson, Tom Nairn, Perry Anderson in the 1960’s. More urgently we need an
innovative and eminently practical approach to political struggle in the new
battlefield that is emerging.
The Breakup of the British State
Not Long Now |
The dynamic toward the break up of this British State is
clear, the genie is out of the bottle, and the leadership of both Democratic Socialist Sinn Fein and Social Democratic
Scottish National Party understand this very well and are pushing home their
advantage. The working class voters of Belfast and Derry have been joined by
their counterparts in Glasgow and Dundee - together they have opened up a
breach in the fortifications of the British State, they are waiting for the
working class of London and Birmingham to act in solidarity.
Many folk in England [especially those living in the Westminster Village] are a bit slow on the uptake.
‘Unionism’ is still a very powerful and insidious ideology. There is an ugly
strand of ‘British Nationalism’ in England that also co-exists inside the minds
of people who see themselves as radical democrats or socialists. The peculiar,
worrying and frankly disturbing truth is that this ‘British Nationalism’ is so
ingrained in people that they remain completely unconscious of it, in denial of the
logic of their ‘Unionism’. They extol the ‘unity’ of the ‘working class’ within a Kingdom while actively opposing the breakup of the biggest barrier to
progress in the class struggle which is the ‘Kingdom’ itself.
Ed Miliband's Painful Suicide in #GE2015 |
The lesson for Jeremy in #GE2017 is clear -
Labour must acknowledge the SNP Government in Scotland is a legitimate
expression of the democratic will of the people of Scotland. The Decision of the Scottish Parliament to hold an Independence Referendum in late 2018 or early 2019 must be respected. Labour must not
pander to Tory/Unionist #ProjectFear. Jeremy can state clearly that a post General Election agreement with SNP focused on resolving the UK's constitutional crisis
democratically is a perfectly acceptable basis to form a Government in June 2017.
We need to talk about England
Charlie and Freddy |
It’s not just incoherent, bigots of the English DefenceLeague that talk about England anymore. Its Cameron and the Tories with their immediate EVEL reaction to the #IndyRef in 2014. Former Chancellor of the Exchqeuer, George
Osbourne, before his lucrative recruitment by Blackrock Investments and the
London Evening Standard was fond of babbling about Regional Devolution in England,
‘Northern Powerhouses’ and ‘Midlands Engines’. The English Democrats try to
hide their white downwardly mobile petit-bourgeois fears behind hopes of an
“English” Parliament. Some Kippers are thinking of exchanging the ‘UK’ bit of
their party name and replacing it with the word ‘England’ – but the
implications makes their brains hurt. In the Stoke Central By Election Labour distributed 10,000’s of leaflets displaying the Flag of St George The brains
behind the leaflet were Anti Corbyn Coup plotter Ruth Smeeth MP and MP for
Erdington, Birmingham, Jack Dromey. ‘Progress’, the right wing entryist organisation
in the Labour Party, recently published a piece by the Scottish Unionist George
Foulkes [now Lord so and so of somewhere or other] entitled ‘Power to the People of England!
Theresa May |
It seems that everyone is talking about England except the
biggest most radical layer of politically engaged people living in England. The
new mass membership of half a million in the Labour Party in England are too
busy trying to survive relentless attacks of the Labour Apparatus Clique or
are hypnotised by the breath-taking betrayals of the many members of the Parliamentary Labour Party. Some
are even scared witless that they, themselves, might be the ‘baddies’ after a
year of bizarre stuff about Ken and Hitler. The Labour Right have been waging a vicious War of Attrition, alongside their allies in the mainstream media, against the overwhelming majority of the membership of the Labour Party for 2 years solid. The War has been particularly dirty and has taken it's toll on the hundreds of thousands of people, predominantly in England, who were inspired to become politically engaged by Jeremy Corbyn in 2015.
Most Promising |
All recent 'inertia' will become irrelevant faced with the challenge of the General Election campaign. The membership of Momentum will become galvanised around the prospect of participating in an historic victory against seemingly overwhelming odds. The problem is that serious obstacles lie in the way of victory and that includes the increasingly byzantine structures of @UKLabour that prevent pitching a clear message to the Electorate in England.
Unionist Veto
THE newly ‘autonomous’ rump of the Scottish Labour Party led
by Anti-Corbyn Kamikaze Kezia Dugdale, gained extra seats on the ‘National’
Executive Committee of the Labour Party so they can vote down the wishes of
500,000 Corbynistas in England. This is one example of the anti -democratic
‘Unionist Veto’ operating in the LP to prevent discussion on the impending
breakup of the the British State. This Unionist Veto disarms Labour in England
from advocating any policy on constitutional change other than a half hearted, underdeveloped and very vague concept of ‘federalism’. We end up in the bizarre situation where the bloody stump of a docked tail known as the 'Scottish Labour Party' wags the bloated body of the Labour Party dog in England.
Mentioning ‘England’ is just a scam to be rolled out by
cynical ‘Progress’ supporters in By Election Campaigns, a sort of EDL lite
challenge to UKIP. @UKLabour cannot see the clarity and political benefits that
separation into Independent ‘National’ LP’s in Scotland England and Wales could
bring. This stubborn lack of vision is not just because they don’t want the
hassle of changing their Twitter handle.
When Teresa May gravely pronounces ‘I shall fight to sustainthis precious Union’ - Labour is hamstrung and has no reply. The
opportunistic decision of Theresa May to call a General Election for 8th June
is the result of Tory hubris. Their excessive pride and self confidence is
based upon Polls that show them over 20points
ahead of Labour. However, the electorate in England in a state of flux, disorientated, confused and volatile. We can help Jeremy to refocus Labour on expressing some positive messages about England's future and it
will still be possible to End May in June.
End May In June |
To give Jeremy Corbyn his due, as soon as he won the
leadership, he proposed the establishment of ‘Citizen’s Assemblies’ to discuss
the constitutional future of the UK and appointed John Trickett MP to head up
the initiative. However, two years on and the Citizens’ have yet to Assemble
anywhere but this eminently democratic proposal needs to be revisited and acted
upon. Jeremy's Achilles Heel is that he is held hostage by the 'Unionism' of @UKLabour. The Tories are
merciless and will attempt to repeat the political ambush over Scotland that
they carried out against Ed Miliband in 2015. They will attempt to ambush Jeremy yet again as a "terrorist sympathiser" for his support for British Withdrawal from Ireland. [The Unionists will also attempt to ambush Jeremy on Palestine, Iran, Venezuela and we can expect the Russian bogeyman Vladimir Putin to feature in #GE2017 too] There is no way to come out of these ambushes unscathed during the next 6 weeks but pandering to reactionary British Unionism would be a suicidal option. #GE2017 is an opportunity to 'flag up' a radical alternative that will prevent all future ambushes.
A Labour Party of England
Independence for England? |
This bold approach is not a call for the creation of Dual Power via an Insurrection - although the moment Labour declares it’s abandonment of support for the ‘United Kingdom’ it will be branded as ‘Treasonous’. The British State already treats Corbyn and All his supporters as the ‘Enemy Within’ - we might as well get hung for a sheep as well as a lamb and openly declare our objectives:
- An Independent Democratic Republic of England with PR Elected National Assembly in Birmingham based on written constitution
- The Palace of Westminster to be re-purposed as home for “The Imperial War Crimes Museum” and linked “De-colonisation, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission”
- Decommissioning Of: The Monarchy, Crown Powers, The House of Lords, The City of London, British Army, Royal Navy, Royal Air Force, MI5, MI6, GCHQ and if necessary the RSPCA
Corbynistas championing new visions of a genuinely
democratic England could find their ranks in the party swelled with fresh
recruits and renewed purpose. Even suggesting 'Independence for England' on the doorstep during canvassing in #GE2017 will aid engagement with people precisely because of the radical anti-establishment nature of the idea.
Imagi-nation and Inter-nationalism from below
RIC Mass Canvass Leaflet - 2014 |
Then the SNP became an all-consuming leviathan hoovering up
everyone in the aftermath of the defeat of YES. If the SNP was a Party in
England it would have a membership of 1.5Million, over Twice the size of the Labour Party in England.
The SNP probably has a greater social weight in Scotland
today than Labour had in England at the end of the Attlee Government.
We need a Radical Independence Campaign for England that
seeks to forge an alliance with a Corbyn led Labour Party of England that can
finally break the last bonds of the British Empire. A campaign for Independence
and genuine democracy that draws its inspiration from the radical republican
democratic traditions of the Levellers, Diggers, Chartists & Sufferagettes. The goal of this campaign is a Democratic Revolution that
empowers and includes all of the oppressed living in England.
It's not rocket science: Ireland will become United -
Scotland will become Independent. The people of Wales and England need to
decide. Do we want to remain part of a
British State or leave the so called 'United Kingdom' to become Independent
Nations?
In Wales there is a long tradition of struggle for
'Independence' in England the concept, itself, is barely understood, so
overwhelming is the amalgamation of 'British' and 'English' identity.
Unraveling, the complexity of England's role in establishing the British State,
unraveling threads that have be woven for over 350 years will be a messy
business.
Gerry Adams speaking in 2014 |
Another England is Possible
BUILDING such a campaign from scratch will not be easy – but
we have neighbours who have been addressing these sort of issues for a very
longtime – In Ireland, Scotland and Wales – we need to ask questions and listen
to the answers. Within England the working class contains the combined wisdom
and collective memory of anti-colonial and national democratic struggles from
Europe, Asia, Africa, & The America’s, especially The Caribbean.
Millions of people who’s heritage is shaped by the way the British Empire dominated the homelands of their parents and grandparents constitute a significant and growing component of the Working Class in England. Perhaps more than anywhere else on the planet the Working Class in England is an ‘International Class’ – If our Class unifies around the project to finish off the British State it won’t be around some blood and soil ‘English Nationalism’. It will be a struggle for political power on a peculiar hybrid ‘national’ territory which has no ‘national’ political institutions and where the majority of the population both inside and outside of the metropolis feel dominated by an out of touch elite in Westmonster and Whitehall. The goal is to achieve Self-Determination for England via an inclusive process led by the working class. The watchwords of this struggle will be Democracy, Democracy, Democracy!
Millions of people who’s heritage is shaped by the way the British Empire dominated the homelands of their parents and grandparents constitute a significant and growing component of the Working Class in England. Perhaps more than anywhere else on the planet the Working Class in England is an ‘International Class’ – If our Class unifies around the project to finish off the British State it won’t be around some blood and soil ‘English Nationalism’. It will be a struggle for political power on a peculiar hybrid ‘national’ territory which has no ‘national’ political institutions and where the majority of the population both inside and outside of the metropolis feel dominated by an out of touch elite in Westmonster and Whitehall. The goal is to achieve Self-Determination for England via an inclusive process led by the working class. The watchwords of this struggle will be Democracy, Democracy, Democracy!
Saffiyah Khan confronts EDL Leader in Brum 8th April 2017 |
Saffiyah intervened to defend a stranger, Saira Zafar, who was surrounded by hostile EDL members shouting 'Your Not English'. Saffiyah Confronted EDL Leader Ian Crossland and the image of her smile went viral.
Today let us celebrate another England, the England of Saffiyah, Saira and the millions in our country who admire their stand against Fascism. This St George's Day, let us celebrate a Martyr with a
military background who fought Imperial oppression and intolerance. A man who
in local Palestinian tradition, is also known as Al Khader [The Green],
associated with fertility, growth & hope.
"Our Historic Duty"
Trotsky Slaying the Counter Revolutionary Dragon |
Our sisters and brothers in the Working Class of Ireland and Scotland have opened up an expanding gap in the fortifications of the last citadel of the British Empire.
All of us in England who carry a new world in our hearts can use St George's Day to grid our loins for battle which is now commencing. Thursday 8th June 2017 will be a defining moment for all of us and as Jeremy reminded us on 20th of April it is 'Our Historic Duty' to WIN.
“Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more”.
Mark Anthony France is a Pizza Delivery Driver from Bromsgrove, England
he can be followed on Twitter @MarkFrance62
he can be followed on Twitter @MarkFrance62