The racism of the anti-EU campaign

Submitted by cathy n on 6 October, 2006 - 12:14

By Jim Denham

The Morning Star is the daily publication of the British Stalinist “left”. Prior to the collapse of the USSR and the Stalinist empire in 1989/90, it was subsidised by “Moscow gold”. Since then it's been subsidised by the dues of rank-and-file union members, most of whom are completely unaware that their hard-earned wages are being used to finance the last gasp of Stalinism in Britain.

The 13 September edition of the Star carried an article on the subject of the European Union and migrant workers, entitled “Don’t be fooled by the EU Trojan horse”, written by one Doug Nicholls, “secretary of Trade Unionists Against the European Constitution and general secretary of the CYWU” (Community and Youth Workers’ Union).

Mr Nichols, a Maoid Stalinist himself, espouses some interesting opinions on the question of immigration, in the course of his anti-European Union (EU) tirade:

“...the EU itself has already shown on a mass scale that it considers it legal for migrant labour to create skills gaps in the country of origin and lower wages and worse conditions in the countries of destination.

“There has also been a huge influx of other migrant labour which is sharply undercutting wages in many areas and putting new strains on public services, to a point where local government is having to consider high local taxes.

“The government has lost count of legal and illegal immigrants. Recent research has indicated the full scale of the problem and capitalist spokespersons have revelled at the resulting suppression of wage levels.”

This racist outburst from a so-called “left-winger” (in fairness to the Morning Star, not necessarily a reflection of their “line”), contrasts with the article from the right-wing, class-collaborationist general secretary of the TUC, Brendan Barber, in the previous day’s Guardian. Under the heading “Stop blaming migrants — exploitation is the problem”, the article began:

“The past few weeks have seen a most unedifying spectacle — liberal people trying desperately to justify illiberal attitudes... Employers have bemoaned the pressures on public services, which they more often advocate cutting and privatising. Economic liberals who insist that there must be no barriers to free trade have argued that free movement of workers is globalisation gone mad. And social liberals have argued that they are acting selflessly on behalf of ‘white van man’ in calling for restrictions on Bulgarian and Romanian workers when their countries join the EU.”

It comes to something, doesn’t it, when the General Secretary of the TUC has a more internationalist — and less racist - view of the working class, than a so-called “left-winger”, published in the Morning Star?

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