WPRM (Britain): May Day Leaflet

B&W- PDF  version of the leaflet is available to download here.

Neither elite politicians nor bankers; oppose the crumbling British imperialist state!

As the reactionary politicians squabble for votes and the British economy continues to teeter on the brink of a double-dip recession, the day of international working class solidarity May 1^st gives us the opportunity to voice our collective disgust at the corrupt politicians and immoral financial barons that rule this country.

Expenses Scandal: Corruption of Politicians out in the open

In 2009 a major corruption scandal erupted from the Houses of Parliament. Although the political class has done its best to sweep the issue under the carpet, the people do not forget so easily. A stopgap parliamentary response was ushered through with no substance at all, and only four MPs face criminal investigation. But the total cost of MPs expenses added up to hundreds of millions of pounds, and the second home allowance and even more corrupt practices have allowed some MPs to amass huge wealth.

Let’s call this by what it is: CORRUPTION! While the reactionary parties continue to promise to clean up the parliamentary system and look for ways to “reconnect” with the people, we say it’s time to dismiss the lies and broken promises of the political class. So we call on people to boycott the 2010 election: reject the corrupt ruling class and its political system!

Economic Meltdown: an intrinsic part of the capitalist economy

Just as the reactionary politicians try to pretend they want to clean up the parliament, they also pretend to want to clean up the economic elite. But for years they let the banking elite run amok with the money of general people. Financial speculation and paying themselves millions of pounds in bonuses have brought the global capitalist economy to its knees once again. The recession has been described as worse than the 1930s Depression, and the cost to the people has been uncountable. In fact the recovery is very fragile and plunging into a full depression is a danger.

Soaring unemployment has only been matched by rising prices and the inevitability of huge cuts to public services after the election – but only public services, not the bonuses. Now the big banks are making huge profits, the ruling class politicians are deceitfully planning to wrench people much further. Today one can clearly observe the intensification of people’s struggle in Britain and around the world against this rotten monopoly capitalist system which primarily functions on plundering other countries as well as destroying the environment.   No to fat cats, save the planet.

Wars on Afghanistan and Iraq

While the situation here gets worse and worse, the British military is still embroiled in the War on Afghanistan, with the high death toll of civilians, not to mention the economic, social and psychologically devastating effects of the war, still huge. Iraq remains occupied by US imperialism. The US and British threat to other countries around the world has hardly lessened since these two foolhardy and brutal wars. The main issue of debate should not be how well equipped British troops are, but why they are there in the first place! So we continue to demand the end of the occupation of foreign countries by British troops.

Support the Revolution in Nepal: Prevent Imperialists interventions

On May 1^st in Nepal hundreds of thousands of people are converging on the capital Kathmandu, demanding an end to feudalism at home and imperialism worldwide which has kept Nepal one of the poorest countries.

After fighting a People’s War for 10 years and setting up People’s Governments in rural areas, the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) led a huge People’s Movement which eventually led to the abolition of the monarchy, the downfall of the brutal King Gyanendra. In democratic elections to a Constituent Assembly the Maoists won twice as many votes as any other party. They have consistently and bravely fought for the rights of the poor, of women, national minorities and the lower castes against the anachronistic puppet rulers of Nepal.

But now an alliance of all the anti-Maoist parties stands in the way, and the threat of Indian intervention is greater than ever. The US and British imperialists hover in the background, aiming to cut short any opportunity for the people of Nepal to take their destiny into their own hands. As the May 28^th deadline for writing a new constitution looms on the horizon, both the dangers and the opportunities for the revolutionary people increase. But while the threat of attack from the enemy remains, the possibilities of making a New Nepal get ever nearer. It is vitally important to rally around the people’s struggle and oppose the reactionary and imperialist powers. We call on people to unite and support the revolution in Nepal on the basis of proletarian internationalism!

(See www.wprmbritain.org for reports by WPRM activists in Nepal last year.)

Operation Green Hunt: the Indian Government’s War on the People

Launched late in 2009, Operation Green Hunt is the most concentrated effort so far by the Indian state to wipe out the struggles of tribal people and their Maoist allies against the exploitation of India’s natural resources by multinational corporations. Living on some of the richest mineral deposits in the country, tribal people throughout large swathes of the country have opposed the Indian state’s efforts to move them off the land they have lived on for centuries. Finding ready allies in the Communist Party of India (Maoist), these people are struggling for the rights of not only tribal people, but against all caste, gender and class oppression. It is essential to oppose the Indian state and its British and US backers, the exploitation of the people’s resources by multinational corporations and unite in support of the Indian people’s struggle!

(For a recent report on the situation in the heartland of the people’s struggle, see Arundhati Roy’s article ‘Walking with the Comrades’ at www.wprmbritain.org.)