In 2024, the ‘extreme centre’ brought us economic insecurity, widening inequality, warmongering, and a resurgence of hard Right political movements.
As the year comes to a close, SSP National Cospokesperson Colin Fox has reiterated the need for a socialist alternative to the collapsing ‘centre’ and the hard Right.
Colin wrote in The National:
“2024 saw the landslide election of the first Labour government in 14 years. Yet, after just 6 months in office it has become so unpopular it now trails both the Conservatives and Reform in the polls.
“Winning the election was the easy part for Keir Starmer. His victory represented merely the ejection of a despised Tory government, nothing more. He won just 33.7% of the vote.
“An identikit politician, ‘the Knight of Kings Cross’ enjoys no affection from voters, exhibits no personal charisma and inspires little confidence. And if the decisions he has made so far are anything to go by we can anticipate a further decline in his popularity in the year ahead.
“Capping child benefit for the poorest families was the first kick in the teeth he delivered to those who had elected him, scrapping the winter fuel allowance for pensioners and betraying the promise he made to ‘WASPI Women’ followed thereafter.
“Those decisions reveal both his core politics and the ‘tin ear’ he demonstrates toward the mood of voters.”
Labour’s Profound Unpopularity
“The dramatic rise in support for Reform and for Scottish Independence have the same root, namely the profound unpopularity of a reactionary Labour government.
“Much has been written about the increased interest in Farage’s party. In July they got 5 MPs elected and came second in 100 Labour constituencies. Subsequent local government by-elections across Britain have confirmed the trend.
“One contest in St Helens, a Labour redoubt in North-West England, saw them increase their vote share by 41%. The website Britain Elects estimates ‘If an election were held today Reform would win more than 500 Councillors.’ In the past the Tories, Lib-Dems and SNP would have been the beneficiaries of this antipathy towards Labour. Not now.
“The hard Right is gaining strength across the western world because of the abject failure of ‘Centre-Left’ and ‘Centre-Right’ administrations alike to address the acute concerns of their poorest citizens.
“Reform UK now has 105,000 members, with 10% of them in Scotland. Many commentators dismiss them as ‘populists’ who offer knee-jerk answers to deep seated social problems.
“But Farage is not averse to promoting causes unpopular with the political establishment, the mainstream media, the middle class and their salaried academy. He presents himself as an anti-establishment figure who now targets Labour’s vote more than the Tories, whom he regards as ‘finished’ and concludes, as others do, that ‘the writing is on the wall’ for Keir Starmer.
“Farage’s support in Scotland comes from former Labour, Tory and SNP voters dissatisfied with all three.
“It’s the economy stupid”
“Understanding the root cause of Reform’s rise is crucial if it is to be countered. Yet Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ dire economic decision-making is playing into his hands. Desperate to turbo-charge an economy that has been flatlining for decades, her approach is doomed because she does not control the political decisions of capital.
“In the 6 months since she promised ‘exponential growth’ Reeves’ quarterly figures have been dismal at 0.1% and 0.1% respectively. The trade tariffs Trump threatens on China and the EU, and the consequent global slowdown, will make her fiscal promises look even more ridiculous!
“Starmer promised, like Thatcher, to ‘make work pay’ by cutting child benefit to families on Universal Credit. Yet the British Chamber of Commerce ominously reported this month the steepest fall in employment rates since 2009. And the influential UK Purchasing Managers Index fell 3 points to 45.8 (a reading above 50 indicates growth, below represents contraction) showing a marked decline in both economic output and business confidence.
“This is all ‘grist to the mill’ for Farage with his cocktail of small state, anti-immigrant, ‘pull up the drawbridge’ British nationalism.
“The way to combat Reform is to promote policies which help those most in need. There are any number of options available. The Scottish Socialist Party has advocated several over the years. We could, for example:
- Invest the trillions of pounds that sit in UK pension funds in UK infrastructure/civil engineering projects like affordable housing, integrated public transport systems, improved flood defences, extensive railway electrification and restorative justice programmes.
- Build 100,000 affordable new homes for rent annually in Scotland; with the houses publicly owned and constructed to the highest industry standards.
- Cap rents in the private rented sector – like they did in the USA as part of ‘the post war settlement’ where tenants saw their leases pegged for 99 years.
- Renegotiate all existing PFI contracts to end the extortion exercised on the public purse and return the assets to common ownership from whence they came.
- Establish a National Care Service – free at the point of need, publicly owned and run to the standard we expect in the 21st century – to complement the NHS.
- Deliver on the promise made to voters in 1948 that all the doctors and dentists we trained would become salaried employees of the NHS, not private businessmen.
- Increase government revenues by pursuing wealthy tax evaders with vigour and providing an annual report on the progress.
- Introduce a ‘Tobin Tax’ on all stock exchange transactions to bring down NHS waiting lists.
- Introduce accredited apprenticeship schemes taking on one million young people to be joiners, plumbers, plasterers, nurses, engineers and carers with valued vocational qualifications paying premium rates.
- Replace the hated Council tax with an income based alternative where the poor pay less and the wealthy more.
- Introduce free public transport to give people the incentive to leave their car at home and reduce C02 emissions substantially.”
Independence holds the key to stopping Starmer and Farage
“Labour will not implement any of these measures of course. That is why it’s decline will continue to fuel the debate over Scottish Independence. Let’s not forget Scotland has an escape hatch from this sinking Labour ship.
“We are now in the run up to the 2026 Holyrood elections where the big issues will remain the state of the economy, the crisis in the NHS, the housing scandal, Labour’s warmongering and ever widening inequalities.
“Each must be linked to the need for Independence, showing how self-determination offers Scotland a radically different path.
“My advice for 2025 is to ‘buckle up’, for the ride ahead promises to be a rough one. Join the resistance to Starmer, Farage and Trump. Join with the Scottish Socialist Party in halting their reactionary plans and help construct a far better future for our children and grandchildren.”