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Let’s unite to kick Johnson out and get Corbyn in

IT’S not just the weather that’s hotting up — so too is the political situation.

This summer our movement has two tasks: get Boris Johnson out of No 10 and get Jeremy Corbyn into No 10.

The new Prime Minister, imposed upon the country by a small number of unrepresentative Conservative Party members, will defend a rotten economic system which is rigged to benefit the billionaire class at the expense of the many. 

What does their system look like? It’s a world where the boss of Amazon accumulates more money in one minute then the workers get paid in a year.

It’s a world where we increasingly see people committing suicide after a cruel and despicable universal credit system leaves them with just a few pounds in their pocket. This can’t go on. 

Our country is now faced with two very different visions of its future. The dream of a society run in the interests of the many. Or the nightmare of Thatcherism 2.0 with Boris Johnson.

Johnson will uphold this broken economic system by dividing, diverting and scapegoating in order to cover up who is really benefiting from it and who is really at fault for poverty, despair, suffering, inequality and injustice. 

We’ve all seen Donald Trump’s racist attacks on Ilhan Omar, the inspirational member of the US Congress. Trump is attacking her because she is black and Muslim and because he thinks whipping up hate will unite his base behind him.

And Trump attacks her because she articulates positions which effectively challenge the interests of the billionaire class and the warmongers. 

That kind of poisonous, racist politics on behalf of the elite is a clear and present threat in our country too. Johnson has links with former Trump adviser Steve Bannon and Johnson has issued racist statements then refused to properly apologise, a move that could be right out of the Trump playbook. 

And Johnson won’t just mimic Trump — he’ll work with Trump to the detriment of the many in our country and around the world. 

Johnson is relaxed about a “no-deal” Brexit that would hit manufacturing and see tariffs imposed on food and other essentials.

Of course, in such a disaster capitalism scenario there will be rich pickings for some. And the recent comments of both Trump and his ambassador let the cat out of the bag.

A “no-deal” Brexit will put our National Health Service — the greatest example in our country’s history of socialist principles put into practice — at risk of being sold off to US multinational corporations. 

And there’s every risk that Johnson will facilitate Britain being a sidekick in Trump’s dangerous foreign policy agenda, with a disastrous war against Iran being a real possibility.

As socialists and internationalists, our aspiration is quite different. We want a close alliance with the United States — one between prime minister Jeremy Corbyn and president Bernie Sanders, built on progressive politics that pursue peace and justice, not war and occupation. 

When analysing the political situation we are in we should be clear that the billionaire class has a strategic problem. They know Johnson is going to be a disaster. And so they are getting very worried that he could be booted out at a general election and replaced by the most socialist, anti-racist, anti-war prime minister this country has ever had. 

It was four years ago this week that Jeremy led 48 Labour MPs voting against the heartless Welfare Bill which was another Tory device to kick working-class communities in the teeth.

I was proud to be one of those 48 MPs. That night showcased the different approach that Jeremy would take if elected Labour leader and the different approach that Jeremy will take once he is prime minister.

So what will the Establishment do? They will move heaven and earth — and use every possible constitutional wheeze — to try to prevent Corbyn becoming prime minister. 

That’s why the right-wing media barons are stepping up their attacks on Jeremy, on his staff, on the Labour Party and on socialist politics. 

Just a few weeks ago the nonsensical smear was that Jeremy wasn’t healthy enough to be Prime Minister. Before that, the ridiculous allegation — similar to one thrown at Harold Wilson — was that he’s been a spy for a foreign power!

Who knows what slurs will follow this summer? What we do know is that the right-wing press will use any issue to attack and undermine Jeremy. 

So as a general election becomes increasingly possible, and Jeremy gets ever closer to No 10, Labour members should be prepared for anything and everything to be thrown at Jeremy and at them. 

People should even be prepared for Establishment attempts to construct a so-called “national government” for the supposed purpose of stopping a “no-deal” Brexit. But if it was really about no deal then they wouldn’t have to replace Jeremy as he has been the most ardent opponent of no deal, pushing opposition to it in Parliament time and time again. 

The real purpose of such a “national government” would be to stop a socialist-led Labour government.

Jo Swinson — the new leader of the Liberal Democrats and former minister in David Cameron’s government — has already shown her hand saying she won’t work with Labour while Corbyn is the leader. 

Just like those members of the House of Lords who have again been on manoeuvres against Jeremy, opponents of his socialist leadership and those who think they can use a national government to get rid of Jeremy should be clear: 62 per cent of Labour members voted for Jeremy as leader of the Labour Party — and that’s what counts.

It’s those hundreds of thousands of Labour members who must decide who leads a Labour-led government — not those guilty of helping unleash a decade of austerity.

Together, the movement has fought every attempt to oust Jeremy and end our socialist project — and we are prepared to do so again.

As Tony Benn, the ideological father of Corbynism, famously said: “There is no final victory, as there is no final defeat. There is just the same battle. To be fought, over and over again.”

So, while enjoying the summer, the labour movement also needs to be ready for the battle ahead. I and other comrades in Parliament are ready to stand shoulder to shoulder with you in that fight.

Richard Burgon is shadow justice secretary and MP for Leeds East. This column appears fortnightly.

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