A MASS movement against cuts and privatisation needs to be built to drive the Tories out of office as soon as possible, Communist Party general secretary Robert Griffiths told the CP executive committee at the weekend.

“Why should millions of people have to suffer five full years of misery at the hands of a government which received the votes of only 24 per cent of the electorate?” he demanded.

The executive committee urged trade unions to help ensure massive turnouts for the People’s Assembly and Scottish TUC demonstrations on June 20 in London and Glasgow.

The CP leader also predicted that Conservative divisions over the European Union would come to the fore as negotiations progressed and a referendum on Britain’s membership drew nearer.

“However, Labour will only be able to take full advantage of these divisions if it has switched to supporting popular sovereignty and is no longer alongside the Tory government, the City and big business in backing Britain’s membership of the monopoly capitalist and militarist EU,” Mr Griffiths argued.

Britain’s communists set themselves the strategic objective of building a coalition with other socialists, trade unionists and peace campaigners to project the “democratic, working-class and internationalist case” against EU membership in the referendum campaign.

In addition, the CP executive identified the need to strengthen the trade union, peace, women’s and tenants’ movements to meet the challenges posed by the election of a Tory government.

On the future direction of the Labour Party, Mr Griffiths urged the trade unions to “fulfil their historic responsibility” to reclaim it as a party that represents working-class interests.

If there is no significant sign of progress by next year’s Labour Party conference at the latest, he added, steps should be taken to “re-establish a mass party of labour.”

He urged the labour movement to come out clearly in favour of a federal Britain, based on the devolved national legislatures and — where the demand exists — directly elected regional assemblies in England.

But the CP leadership warned that “fiscal autonomy” for Scotland could be a trap to devolve responsibility for imposing austerity to Edinburgh, whereas what is needed is an extensive redistribution of wealth across the nations and regions of Britain.
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