Blog / Politics

Background

In response to declarations that communism and/or socialism have killed in excess of 100 million people, it has become common on social media to see claims that capitalism is responsible for an even greater number of deaths. Here are some examples:

The infographics featured in the banner of this post are also common, which present various statistics (including death tolls) that are supposedly attributable to capitalism. The reasoning behind these assertions is rarely made clear, but ultimately it amounts to blaming a significant portion of humanity's problems on a notion of capitalism so all-encompassing as to be meaningless, either by inflating its definition or by declaring causality where none exists.

In a recent article on The Guardian website, Owen Jones listed the trans-atlantic slave trade, colonialism and the rise of 20th century fascism as either components or consequences of capitalism. Add starvation, disease, war and natural disasters into the mix and it… continue reading

Background

Jeremy Corbyn has been the leader of the UK's Labour Party since 2015 when, in the face of high profile Labour MPs claiming that he would render the Labour Party unelectable, he won a leadership contest with a vote share of 59.5%. After the EU referendum in 2016, around two-thirds of Corbyn's Shadow Cabinet resigned and a vote of no confidence was passed by Labour MPs with 172 votes to 40. Despite this, Corbyn retained the party leadership after another leadership contest with an increased vote share of 61.8%, putting the parliamentary Labour Party squarely at odds with its wider membership.

After being rejected by his own MPs and ridiculed by both the media and his political opponents for most of his time as leader, dismal local election results left the Labour party looking fractured and weak. Theresa May decided to take advantage of the situation by calling for a general election, with a crushing defeat for Labour being widely predicted. However, in the month leading … continue reading

Background

One of the most prevalent narratives propagated in the run up to the recent general election in the UK—which continues to generate significant amounts of public outrage and media attention—is that of "savage" public sector cuts; the great evil that is austerity.

For anyone reading without any knowledge of UK politics, the 2010 election saw the end of a thirteen year reign of the Labour Party. The Conservative election campaign had strongly criticised Labour's record on the economy, accusing them of reckless spending and borrowing, particularly in the years leading up to and following the 2008 financial crisis.

Since the crisis was global in scale, the degree to which Labour were directly responsible for the huge (£153bn) budget deficit in 2010 is up for debate, nonetheless Labour's credibility was severely damaged. One of the primary stated goals of the Conservatives was to reduce the deficit and bring the country's finances back under control, which would involve rolli… continue reading