Lead story

Cameron losing confidence

by Daphne Liddle

THE QUEEN’S Speech, delivered at the opening of Parliament last Wednesday, was a fairly muted affair in the run-up to the European Union referendum, which, according to the opinion polls, is likely to be a close run thing.

The Queen began reading the words Cameron had prepared for her, speaking of a “growing economy” and an “increase in life chances” for people through a programme of social reform, which must have had some MPs wondering if she’s picked up a “happy-ending” novel instead of a Government document. For once, the words “austerity” and “cuts” were missing.

Nevertheless it carried proposals for new measures to shunt our society further along the road to the privatisation of everything and the erosion of our civil and human rights.

There were 20 new bills and three left over from the last session of Parliament but only a few that would have a significant impact on our lives.

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Cameron losing confidence

Justice for Topshop cleaners

AROUND 200 people, including Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell, staged a demonstration last Sunday in the heart of London’s West End demanding a living wage for cleaners at the retail giant Topshop and the reinstatement of two workers who have been sacked for joining a union.

The company claims it has no responsibility for the cleaners’ wages because the work is subcontracted to the cleaning company Britannia Services Group. But Topshop does have a responsibility to hire subcontractors that pay their workers a London living wage.

Topshop, owned by retail entrepreneur Philip Green, is worth £4.3 billion. It can afford to use a respectable cleaning company that pays workers a fair wage.

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Justice for Topshop cleaners

Editorial

Say No to EU in June

On Thursday 23rd June the country will vote either to remain in or leave the European Union. While those in favour of remaining in the EU still lead in the opinion polls the “Brexit” campaigners are gaining ground as the split in the Tory party widens over Europe. David Cameron now, clearly, must rely on Labour, Scottish National Party and TUC support to deliver a convincing Yes vote on the day. Defeat, or even a close-run thing, will mean the end of his premiership and possibly the end of this Tory government.

A lot of old nonsense has been spouted by both sides over the past few weeks as the divisions amongst the ruling class become more and more open amongst the media pundits and in the columns of the bourgeois press. Some Europhiles are wildly claiming that a British exit would be followed by economic meltdown and World War while the reactionary Brexiteers led by UKIP and Tory Eurosceptics are banging on about immigration and the supposed threat to national security posed by continued EU membership.

Communists, therefore, have a crucial role to play in the campaign by raising the principled objections of the working class to the European Union and the Treaty of Rome while countering the racist arguments of Nigel Farage and his followers.

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Say No to EU in June