[Campaignforrealdemocracy] Blog on Europe

[Mark Barrett]

FYI
The crisis behind the Tory revolt
When more than a quarter of a governing party’s MPs defy instructions and
vote against their own prime minister, you sense the political storm clouds
are gathering over Westminster.
In fact, but for the Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats coming to David
Cameron’s rescue, the government would have been defeated on the motion for
a referendum on Britain’s membership of the European Union.
What last night’s vote confirms is that the Coalition is led by two men who
lack the support of their own parties because deputy prime minister Clegg
hardly commands total backing either.
Cameron, a one-nation, free-market Tory was defied by a parliamentary party
much further to the right who lost their standard bearer when Liam Fox, the
disgraced defence secretary, was forced from office.
The right’s disdain for Cameron is so visceral, many wouldn’t care if the
government fell and they found themselves a new leader. They may yet get
their wish.
An unstable government, which was propelled into office by state officials
when last year’s election produced a stalemate, is the reflection in
politics of the equally volatile economic and financial crisis that has
rocked Europe in particular.
Cameron and his cabinet know that the British economy’s fate is
interdependent with what happens in the 17 eurozone countries within the EU.
That’s why they resisted the referendum call, even if in their hearts of
hearts they may agree with it.
When Greece formally defaults on its unrepayable foreign debt, as it is
certain to do, the impact on Europe’s banks will be totally unpredictable.
That’s the problem EU leaders are struggling with day after day, without
convincing the markets they are getting anywhere.
So far they’ve come up with a fund of about €100 billion to bail out the
banks that will be hit by a Greek default. Some observers say that a sum ten
times that amount – i.e. €1 trillion – is the minimum required to provide
temporary relief because countries like Italy and Spain are next in the
firing line.
We should not underestimate the historic nature of the failure of the
“European project”. It was designed to avoid a repeat of the two world wars
of the 20th century by bringing different nations under one common umbrella.
Economic integration was to be followed by political integration. In this
way, economic crisis would be a thing of the past – as would free-for-all
market competition. It has not turned out like that.
Since the mid-1990s, changed economic conditions have driven the market into
the heart of the EU, which consequently became a regional arm of
corporate-driven globalisation. What has emerged is a bureaucratic, often
secretive, quite undemocratic EU run in the interests of capital and
finance.
The Tory right are not entirely off target in their criticisms of the EU –
except their alternative – to raise the Union Jack, batten down the hatches
and make sure foreigners get no further than Calais – is hopelessly
reactionary. Their opposition to the EU is entirely nationalist, cloaked
with fake concerns about democracy and parliamentary sovereignty.
Whether it is the EU crypto-state or the British version, real sovereignty
actually lies with a network of probably no more than 150 “tightly-knit”
corporations, according to complex systems theorists whose ground-breaking
study<http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21228354.500-revealed--the-capitalist-network-that-runs-the-world.html>
was
published recently.
They rule through political and other proxies at national state, European
and global levels (the World Trade Organisation, for example). This
corporate-state partnership is beyond reform. It is the problem and not part
of the solution.
A network of democratically-run People’s Assemblies has to create a
sovereign power in its place and institute a new dawn of co-ownership,
self-management and mass involvement. It’s the best way to deal with the
rising tide of nationalism that last night’s vote expressed.
Paul Feldman
Communications editor
25 October 2011
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