The Bollocks of a “Trump Brexit” and the myth of Left Remain

By Ben Soton

“Those at the top of society and those at the bottom have always understood each other; it’s those annoying people in the middle who don’t understand either who are the problem.”  This is a myth Boris Johnson is going to play on in his bid to win the next election.  He will claim to be fighting a culture war on behalf of ordinary folk against the irritating chattering classes and Brexit will be at the centre of it. 

By opposing Brexit Jeremy Corbyn is walking into a trap.  Not a carefully hidden “booby trap” but one that might as well have “TRAP” written on it.  At the Durham Miners Gala this year he talked about opposing a “Trump Brexit”; where American firms are given control of the NHS.  Arguably a bit pointless Donald Trump has ruled the NHS out of any possible trade deal.  Does this mean we should trust Donald Trump? No, but a look at some facts might be worthwhile. 

US and other foreign private companies have been involved in the NHS for some time.  Since 2006 the Hospital Corporation of America (HCA) has formed a number of NHS HCA Ventures; these are partnerships with NHS Trusts that provide facilities only to private patients.  The HCA’s UK subsidiary is part of the Private Hospitals Alliance, a lobbying firm that calls for greater private sector involvement in the NHS.  Meanwhile US firms have also acquired UK healthcare companies.  In 2015 the US firm Tenet Healthcare acquired Aspen Healthcare, which operated a number of private hospitals in the UK.  On taking over the UK firm Tenet talked about privatisation of the UK marketplace and increased opportunities within the NHS. 

I can’t remember how the saying goes but it has something to do with a horse, a stable door and something having bolted.  Ironically, it is European Union competition law that forces governments to open up internal markets such as the NHS to private competition.  Even Polly Toynbee, an ardent Remainer, has said that bringing back all NHS services “in house” is impossible whilst in the EU. 

Despite what Remainers say Corbyn has always had one foot in the Remain camp.  For some time, he has insisted that he would only support a deal that guarantees jobs, employment rights and environmental protection.

 There is an economic system that stands in the way of these demands – it’s called CAPITALISM.  Meanwhile the EU never gave us these rights and benefits whilst we were in it and are they are not available to workers of other EU member states.

  EU membership doesn’t safeguard employment. The EU did not guarantee the jobs of those recently make redundant by Deutsche Bank and it helped the Ford Transit van factory relocate from Southampton to Turkey which is not even a member.  . 

After the Grenfell Tower tragedy The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) produced a pamphlet entitled the Grenfell Tower Fire: Background to an Atrocity.  The pamphlet explained how since the early 1980s successive Tory, New Labour and Coalition Governments introduced legislation to weaken Health and Safety Regulations.  This process took place whilst in the EU. 

We have been told time and time again about the “workers’ rights” given to us by the EU.  If these rights are so wonderful why are there so many people on zero-hours contracts? The Agency Workers Directive (AWR) is made effectively meaningless through the inclusion of the “Swedish Derogation Clause”.  This means that the rights to equal pay that will normally exist under the AWR won’t apply to workers employed on a permanent basis by an umbrella company or agency and who receive pay in-between assignments.  Suffice it to say we have seen the growth of umbrella companies in recent years.  Those “employed” by umbrella companies are forced to pay them “administration” fees and regularly pay their employers’ National Insurance contributions for them.

 I am sure those who work for these parasitic outfits are living in fear of losing these rights when we leave the EU. 

Some on the Labour Left advocate Remain and Reform (R&R) which is simply Remain Rebranded.  However, if the EU gives us all these wonderful things why does it need reforming?

 I shall not go into the discussion of the EU being unreformable but R&R is simply leftish sugar coating for a right-wing position.  Some advocates of R&R have become born-again Trotskyists by throwing arguments about the flaws of “Socialism in One Country” at Left Leavers; whilst forgetting about Trotskyism’s obsession with “unaccountable bureaucracy”.  In any case “Socialism in One Country” is better than Thatcherism in One Continent. 

At the last election the Corbyn leadership pledged to honour the referendum result while arguing for some sort of “customs union” with the EU. This “constructive ambiguity” over Brexit kept the Blairites and the pro-EU unions that control the TUC quiet while retaining the loyalty of millions of Labour voters who wanted out. Then all they had to do was present their popular manifesto to the public and make use of a leader who was not as unelectable as we were told.

Now Labour has more or less joined the Remainer camp in opposing a “no-deal” Brexit and supporting a second “final vote” referendum.

Labour calls for a general election but works with the Liberal Democrats and Tory rebels to bring the Johnson government down through legal challenges and procedural methods in parliament. But Parliamentary manoeuvre is no substitute for mass action. It’s a bourgeois game played to bourgeois rules.

Labour can still rely on the votes of millions of working people at the next election. But if they back-slide on Brexit they will fight it with one hand tied behind their backs.