From Brexit to the 2017 General Election: Corbynism and the Return of Class to British Poltics

Socialism 2017

August 15, 2017

Britain’s vote to leave the European Union last year was a watershed event that exposed the economic, political, and social contradictions of the twenty-four year old alliance. Driven largely by economic nationalism and playing upon xenophobia toward immigrants, the vote gave confidence to other far right wing forces in Europe hoping to use the same methods to gain prominence. More recently, Tory Prime Minister Theresa May's decision to call a general election in the hopes of cementing a conservative majority were dashed, by the powerful showing of Labour and, in particular, Jeremy Corbyn--and the crisis for the Tories has only deepended with the recent catastrophic Grenfell Tower fire. Whatever the future holds, the crisis in British politics and the EU--which has imposed harsh austerity on the European working class--will continue. How can the left take an independent line that challenges both the austerity of the EU and the false solutions of the far right?

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