Resistance Must Be Kept Alive
and Find New Forms

The fight to safeguard the future of the NHS has come centre stage over the last two years in the political life of the country and has been embodied in the opposition to the Coalition government's Health and Social Care Bill which became an Act on March 27. The call to drop the Bill became a rallying call that united all sections of the people around health workers in opposition to the government’s programme to privatise and destabilise the NHS. This working class and people’s opposition fully took up its responsibility to society in opposing the dictate of big government and the big health monopolies that are behind them. The people in their millions opposed the wrecking and tearing up of the foundations of the NHS and the demand of the people for publicly provided universal health care.

That the Coalition Government has succeeded in forcing through the Health and Social Care Act may look like they have won and that the opposition to the Bill has lost. But what the government has won above all else is the contempt of all for riding roughshod over public good.

In contrast, what has been gained by the opposition of all who have fought and are fighting against the Act is the collective appreciation that health care is a right, and this right must be given a legal guarantee. The right to health care for all in a modern society has profound legitimacy that stands against the “legal force” of the Health and Social Care Act 2012. This Act embodies an opposite conception of denying the people the legal guarantee to the right to health care through the fragmentation of the health service and the imposition of the interests of the health care monopolies and other private interests.

How in present circumstances to give expression to the opposition to the Health and Social Care Act is the challenge that the Workers’ Opposition must take up. What must also be taken account of is the defence of anyone who does not take up the mission of the Act as their own as the government drives through the programme embodied in the legislation. The issue will now be not only to fight with the perspective that health care is a right, but also to find new forms for organising and consolidating the resistance now that the Bill is an Act.

Note

The Health and Social Care Bill received the Royal Assent on March 27, 2012, after completing its passage through both houses of parliament on March 20. Also given Royal Assent on this date was the London Local Authorities Act 2012, which confers a range of further powers on local authorities in London.

April 2 marked the thirtieth anniversary of the Falklands/Malvinas War in which nearly 1000 combatants from Britain and Argentina lost their lives. The anniversary has been marked this year by hypocritical statements from the Prime Minister and his government and by the despatch of a heavily armed warship, HMS Dauntless, to the Malvinas. In short, by its words and deeds the present government has shown that it is as committed to colonial invasion and military conquest as the Thatcher government was in the 1980s.

The Malvinas lie about 250 miles off the coast of Argentina but have been claimed by British governments since the early 19th century. The islands have been continually occupied and administered by Britain since 1833. For the last ninety years, Argentina has been pressing its claim for their return, a demand rejected by the British government both before and following the conflict thirty years ago.

On the occasion of the anniversary, Prime Minister David Cameron issued a statement in which he made much of what he referred to as “the part Britain played in righting a profound wrong”. This was a reference not to any action British governments have played in relinquishing sovereignty of territory adjacent to another continent thousands of miles away, but rather to the sabre-rattling and warmongering policies followed by the Thatcher government and its successors. Cameron also spoke of the importance of the principle of self-determination – “the fundamental principle that was at stake thirty years ago: and …the principle which we solemnly re-affirm today.” In fact, as is well known, this a principle that is more honoured in the breach than the observance, since British governments refuse to uphold or defend it in relation to the peoples of Palestine, Korea and many other countries.

William Hague wrote an article in the Telegraph in which amongst other things he maintained that the government wishes to establish closer economic and other relations with the countries of South America, especially those with rapidly developing economies such as Brazil. According to the Foreign Secretary, Britain’s trade with that country and with Colombia and Mexico will double by 2015. While refusing to enter into any negotiation with Argentina over the sovereignty of the Malvinas, Hague attempted to invite Argentina to again discuss with Britain what he called “confidence building measures” including the government’s plans for the future economic exploitation of the region.

The president of Argentina, Cristina de Kirchner, speaking on the anniversary, condemned British colonial rule. She stated: "It's an injustice that in the 21st century colonial enclaves still exist in the world – and ten of the 16 that remain belong to the UK.” She added that it was “absurd” that Britain still maintained sovereignty over islands that are 8,000 miles away from its shores, and concluded by saying that the Malvinas “are a national, South American and global cause. All Argentina is asking for is dialogue.” Argentina is strongly supported by other South American countries as is evident from the recent statement submitted to the UN from the foreign ministers of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) which condemned what it referred to this “anachronistic and colonial situation taking place on American soil”. The ministers regretted the fact that British government continued to flout UN resolutions passed on this issue since 1965. Venezuela’s Foreign Minister pointed out “There can not be a single colonial enclave in South America and the Malvinas cause is one of the fairest left in this 21st century. Decolonising Malvinas is going to be a great achievement for the independence, peace and stability of our region.”

Behind the government’s sophistry about the right of self-determination for the British citizens who have settled on the Malvinas lie the interests of the big monopolies that are determined to maintain control of the oil reserves that have been discovered off the Malvinas as well as maintaining a presence in a region that is the gateway to the unexploited resources of Antarctica. It is in this context that the current government remains committed to maintaining what the rest of the world considers an anachronism, colonial control of territory thousands of miles from Britain. However, there can be no justification for such a stance in the 21st century; British must get out of the Malvinas.

George Galloway won an unprecedented victory for the Respect Party in the Bradford West by-election, held on March 29 due to the resignation on health grounds of Labour MP Marsha Singh. By taking a pro-social and anti-war stand, the party was able to mobilise popular support. In one of the largest swings in British electoral history, Galloway won the election with a majority of over 10,000 votes (nearly 31%).

The big parties, by contrast, all suffered heavy losses. Labour had its historically safe majority wiped out; the Liberal Democrats polled so low as to lose their deposit. The Conservative vote also collapsed.

The movement for the alternative has been developing among the electorate. The half-million “March for the Alternative” manifested the consciousness that it is the working class and its allies who represent the alternative that there is a different way of doing things, a different direction for the economy that invests in social programmes rather than paying the rich, where the people decide through new political mechanisms rather than deferring decision-making power to the big parties. The anti-war movement has also taken up this issue. The fight has also been waged over the defence of the rights of all, and it has shown that no movement of the working class and people can make serious advances without the defence of the rights of all being consciously taken up.

Democratic renewal is urgently required by society, and the lasting resolution of the offensive against the working class and people is constantly being blocked by the entrenchment of political power in the hands of the rich and powerful which excludes consideration of the voice of the working class and people. In fact, it could truthfully be said that the movement which gave rise to Respect was based on this need for democratic renewal.

The years since the formation of Respect have only served to underline the need to break the stranglehold of the three big parties over political life. These years have also seen the crisis of working class representation stand out in sharp relief. It has become increasingly evident how Westminster taken as a whole constitutes a pro-war government as well.

The election of George Galloway has reflected the aspirations of the working class and people that their voice be heard at Westminster and that the government be held to account for its crimes against the people and for its offensive against society and its ordinary members.

Results of the Bradford West by-election
Turnout: 32,905 (50.0%) -14.9
Majority: 10,140 (30.9%)
Swing: 36.6% from Lab to Respect

Candidate	Party	Votes	%	±%
George Galloway	Respect	18,341	55.9	+52.8
Imran Hussain	Labour	8,201	25.0	-20.3
Jackie Whiteley	Conservative	2,746	8.4	-22.7
Jeanette Sunderland	Liberal Democrat	1,505	4.6	-7.1
Sonja McNally	UKIP	1,085	3.3	+1.3
Dawud Islam	Green	481	1.5	-0.8
Neil Craig	Democratic Nationalists	344	1.0	-0.1
Howling Laud Hope	Monster Raving Loony	111	0.3	N/A