If Labour Were In Power Today

Just suppose we had a general election now and Labour regained power, would Ed Milliband's all new Labour Party be any different from 'New Labour'? The latest YouGov opinion poll put Labour on 42%, Tories on 39% and LibDem's slumped down to 9% as the ConDem cuts became reality for more and more people.

Labour have been able to gain support at the LibDem's expense, enjoying a free ride on the back of Nick Clegg's dwindling popularity over tuition fees. Could Ed Milliband's new New Labour be a winning formula? Have Labour suddenly become the worker's party once again? Not on your nelly!

On numerous occasions Ed Milliband has distanced himself from workers and student struggles, failing to turn up for protests against cuts and condemning union leader's for daring to suggest coordinated strike action against the £81b coalition cuts. Milliband and Labour are no more friends of the working class now than Brown and Blair were. Labour would sooner suck up to the markets and fat cat business leaders than stand up for the workers who vote for them election after election.

If Labour were in power today, they would still be slashing public services and would still leave anti-union laws untouched, ensuring the UK continued to have the worst anti-union laws in Europe. Secretly Labour are hoping the public will turn on the LibDems and Tories, resulting in a Labour government. But the Tories will be able to remind voters that Labour, instead of resisting cuts, actually encouraged cuts on a local level as Labour councils up and down the country wielded the axe on much needed public services.

Ed Milliband is neither red nor representative of real workers, sadly the Labour Party sold workers out back in the early 80's and eventually became more blue than Margaret Thatcher as it encouraged back-door privatisation of our health and education service. Most Labour voters will be hoping Ed Milliband can usher the party back into power, but don't be surprised if the Tories win the next election as Labour fail to offer a real socialist manifesto defending services and workers from the greed of business.

The three major parties are failing the working class with their general centre-right policies, yet more and more people are discovering there is a better way to run society. Socialist principles are beginning to become a viable alternative to the failed capitalist market economy, as highlighted by the Socialist Party. A planned economy based on workers democratic control, producing goods and services for the nation rather than for the fat cat bosses is possible.

Visit: www.socialistparty.org.uk