Furthering the Aims of the Monopolies in
the Face of Increasing Exposure and Division

The 39th G8 summit was held on June 17-18 at the Lough Erne Hotel and resort near Enniskillen in the north of Ireland. Participating were political leaders from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the US. The UK hosted the event as it assumed the one-year Presidency in January this year.

It will be remembered that in 2005, Britain previously hosted the G8 at Gleneagles in Scotland, when Tony Blair was Prime Minister, at the height of the war against Iraq.

At this summit, the big powers sought to further the aims of the monopolies, principally through: launching negotiations towards a major “free trade” agreement between the EU and the US; protecting the assumed right of the rich to evade tax under the pretext of preventing such tax avoidance; and attempting to agree plans for further intervention, specifically in Syria.

“Free Trade” Agreement

The EU and US announced the start of formal talks on a free trade agreement, unprecedented both in its size and in the short timescale through which it is to be pushed – a mere 18 months.

Presented as eliminating protectionism, boosting growth and jobs, the aim of this agreement is to remove restrictions on the powerful multinational corporations against the interests of the people. In particular, it seeks the liberalisation of the service sector, including opening up state-run services such as the NHS to the monopolies. The devastation of the NHS via the Health and Social Care Act has been exposed as preparation for this organised plunder.

Contradictions had surfaced over the issue of exclusions. France had threatened to veto talks unless the film and television industry were left out of negotiations. The other parties conceded to this demand on Friday, but in so doing opened the door to further such omissions. It is an open secret, for example, that the US is aiming for financial services to be excluded. Furthermore, campaigners for the NHS have been pressing for healthcare to be left out of the agreement.

Intervention

False Fronts -FivemiletownIt is a tried-and-tested method to dress up the aims of the big powers and the monopoly interests they represent with high-sounding phrases and pretexts. One major such theme of the G8 summit was promoting “transparency”, preventing “corruption” and ending “tax avoidance”.

This has been particularly promoted by the British government. Its G8 factsheet on transparency begins: “Transparency about the ownership of companies and land and also about where money flows from and to is critical for developing countries. Removing conflict and corruption, having the presence of property rights and strong institutions are vital for countries to move from poverty to wealth.”

“Strong institutions” is an echo of the imperialist line of “good government”, a well-known cover for intervention, particularly in Africa, while by “property rights” we understand monopoly right.

Related to this, on the issue of Syria, which was a key aspect of the G8 negotiations with the stand of Russia currently a barrier to the aims of Anglo-American imperialism, William Hague ominously declared that there are no “palatable” choices and that they are not “in the business of ruling out any options”.

Tax

False Fronts -EnniskillenFollowing a series of high-profile exposures resulting from the actions of campaigns within the movement against austerity, the big powers have been forced to appear to be dealing with avoidance of tax by the rich and the monopolies.

Again it is Britain that has been taking the initiative here, and it is with Britain that the hypocrisy is most blatant. Britain is a world leader in maintaining tax havens, such as the Cayman Islands, Jersey and numerous other locations, with a record of saving the monopolies from paying tax all along the line. The new tax avoidance rules introduced in the recent budget actually “give a green light to large companies and wealthy individuals to continue avoiding tax”*. This is the leadership that Cameron brought to the G8: the aim is to further institutionalise tax avoidance under the banner of its prevention.

Military takeover

G 8 leaders on a pedestalSuch is the opposition to the secret, anti-democratic and pro-monopoly discussions and deals made by the G8, that it has become the norm for massive military operations to surround its summits. Yet, even by G8 standards, the scale of the security arrangements around the Lough Erne hotel was enormous, described by The Guardian as “overwhelming”.

Military vehicles of various descriptions – jeeps, helicopters and boats – were deployed. Reminiscent of a medieval fortress, the summit was held on a small island surrounded by a steel barrier; this barrier itself cost over £4m. The total cost came to a reported £50m. It is also significant that of the 8,000 police deployed, nearly half were brought over from England and Wales.

Actions

Actions organised in opposition had a local character compared to previous G8 meetings. Around 1,000 people took the 6-mile “G8 Not Welcome” march from the centre of Enniskillen to the security perimeter. This included people protesting against “fracking” for natural gas, which is being driven through at the demand of the monopolies without serious investigation into the effects on the human and natural environment and which is a big issue in the region, alongside those opposing austerity, particularly cuts to public services.

Demonstrations also took place in Belfast and Dublin. 10,000 attended Belfast’s Big IF concert aimed at the issue of global poverty.

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* War on Want, "Avoiding avoidance: Why the government's proposed 'anti-abuse' rule will fail to tackle tax avoidance", 21 January 2013, http://www.waronwant.org/attachments/Avoiding Avoidance UPDATE - 21-01-13.pdf

The British government has used the occasion of the G8 summit in the north of Ireland to press the case for regime change and further military intervention in Syria. That Syrian conflict has already been the scene of intervention and meddling by Britain, the US, and other big powers. Britain has been one of the prime movers in fanning the flames of war which has led to the deaths of over 90,000 people and the displacement of several millions and over a million refugees. The conflict has already spilled over into neighbouring countries, and threatens to engulf and destabilise the whole of the Middle East region. This is being further utilised as a pretext for further intervention, threatening to embroil some of the world’s major powers in an even more bloody conflict.

The G8 presents itself as a forum for the governments of the world’s largest economies, although the governments of China and Brazil are currently excluded and therefore Anglo-American imperialism and its allies dominate it. On this occasion, the summit was utilised by Britain and the US not just to sanction regime change in Syria but also to open the way for openly arming those fighting against the Syrian government, a decision already taken by the US. Although the British and US have been training and supporting the opposition to the Assad government for some time, and indirectly arming this opposition through third parties, this has so far not led to the desired regime change. The government of Russia, on the other hand, has long-standing economic and military ties with the government of Syria, while that country provides Russia with its only Mediterranean naval base. Hitherto, therefore, Russia has opposed the policy of regime change in Syria favoured by Britain and its allies, and along with China has exercised its veto in the UN Security Council to block resolutions which it deemed might facilitate that policy. The G8 summit was therefore used by the Anglo-Americans to attempt to put maximum pressure on Russia to modify its position. The conflict in Syria can therefore be seen as a further attempt by Britain and its allies to strengthen their position in this region, in contention with their rivals, as well as a means to put increasing pressure on Iran, and further destabilise Syria’s neighbours.

The British government justifies its warmongering interventionist stance by claiming that that its one of the main forces for peace. It argues that it is for a political settlement but that this can only be brought about if the opponents of the government of Syria are in a stronger military position, although it has not yet announced that it will follow the lead of the US. In fact the much-heralded second Geneva peace conference called for by the US as well as Russia, and endorsed in the G8 summit communiqué, has been welcomed by the government of Syria but not by the bitterly divided opposition. The government also claims that further action needs to be taken against the al-Assad government because of its alleged use of chemical weapons. However, UN investigators earlier claimed that the only evidence they had pointed to the use of such weapons by the opposition, that is those supported by Britain and the US.

The government is using every opportunity to put the case for interference in the affairs of a sovereign country, even although this is illegal under international law. There are mounting efforts to build on the precedent established in the case of Libya and Tony Blair has even called for the imposition of a “no-fly zone”, while others plead the case for so-called “humanitarian” intervention. At the same time, other establishment figures are fearful of the mass opposition that will ensue if Britain is again drawn into full-scale military intervention and caution against openly supplying arms to those fighting against the al-Assad government. In Syria however, the government and its allies have already created all the conditions for mass slaughter and regional instability and for this great crime they must be condemned. It remains the task of all democratic and peace-loving people to put an end to such interference and warmongering once and for all by creating the conditions for an anti-war government in Britain.

On Saturday, June 15, the Hunt for Hunt action, a Save Lewisham Hospital Campaign initiative joined by Unite, the union, was a very successful event.

The action included local NHS campaign groups from all over London, including Charing Cross, Hammersmith, Central Middlesex and Ealing, comprising some 150 people travelling in four coaches. They all converged on Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt’s constituency in Farnham, Surrey. The aim of the action was to make clear in no uncertain terms that people are totally opposed to the attacks on health care and to the privatisation of the NHS. 

Because of Jeremy Hunt's inability to visit a NHS Hospital as Health Secretary, the campaign decided to take the fight to his doorstep. An invitation to meet Unite and local people in Farnham had been ignored, with not even a polite declining of the invite.

Petition points were set up in Farnham and the activists went door to door, engaging residents in discussion about the issues. Thousands of leaflets were distributed, headlined, “Our NHS Is under Threat – Will you help us to save it?” The leaflet stated: "We are calling on Jeremy Hunt to: Stop the closure of vital hospital services; Stop the privatisation of the NHS; protect local hospitals for local people.”

The response from Jeremy Hunt’s constituents was very positive and friendly with many people expressing their deep concerns about what is happening to the NHS and deploring its increasing privatisation. What quickly became apparent was that the local people of Farnham were equally concerned about the future of the NHS in their MP's hands. In just two hours, over 1,000 Farnham residents signed the petition against the wrecking of the NHS, and many people thanked the activists for coming to their area to campaign in defence of the NHS.

In the afternoon, a march was held through Farnham with placards and banners proclaiming, “Whose NHS? Our NHS!” and “Hands Off Our AEs!”. The response by the local people in the town was very supportive. The march called in at the Conservative Party Headquarters but as was expected, neither Jeremy Hunt nor anyone else came out to talk!

The day ended with a short rally in which the chair of the Save Lewisham Hospital Campaign Louise Irvine, the deputy chair Helmut Heib, a representative from Unite and the Ealing Hospital Campaign gave rousing speeches. Helmut Heib powerfully pointed out the grave dangers facing the NHS while Louise Irvine spoke of the significance of the day’s action and the warm response by the local people of Jeremy Hunt’s own constituency which should make him very worried!

After the day’s events, 19 local health activists turned up in the evening for a social organised by Save Lewisham Hospital Campaign and Unite with plans initiated to develop the work in Farnham and elsewhere in Surrey in fighting the hospital closures and privatisation of the NHS. It was felt that this bodes very well for the future and indicates that the fight to save the NHS is a nation-wide struggle.

RCPB(ML) Film Of the Hunt for Hunt

http://youtu.be/oyG65xnvaus