Brussels does not rule Britain the ruling class does

6/6/2016

I ain't really said much on the EUREF, but I feel this needs to be said.

We are not controlled by Brussels, Britain is controlled by a class of people, this class of people are called the "ruling class." If we stay in the EU or leave the EU, the same ruling class which control us now, will still be in charge.

You will not have more power if we vote to leave, you will not have less, you will have the same amount of power that you have now, which is none.

Inequality, and the structures of power and wealth will be maintained regardless of whether we are in or out come the EUREF, because the EUREF does not challenge the power structures, it does not challenge the inequality of the system.

I don't care how you vote, but if you're voting with the thought that voting in or out, is going to impact on these things in anyway shape or form, sorry to break it to you but you're wrong.

The wealthy elite in the City of London, will continue to be the wealthy elite long after the EUREF, the greedy bankers who have million pound bonuses, after the EUREF, will still be the same greedy bankers which plunged the world into recession in 2008. The corrupt politicians which take cash for questions, will still be there. Knighthoods and peerages will still be dolled out to the rich because of political donations, and political corruption. The rich multinationals, and the rich business owners, will still be the same ones we have now, and they will continue to get better treatment, and live better lives because of their wealth.

This will not change whatever the result of the EUREF, because the EUREF does not seek to challenge the structures and systems which keep us poor, and impact heavily on inequality, and the halls of power.

If you want to challenge these things, then after the referendum whatever the result, organise - join a trade union. Get involved in local activism, get involved in having a political voice, do something positive. Rally against the inequality within the system, educate yourself and others about the ruling elite and how they keep themselves in power.

These things can be changed, and they have to be challenged, but in or out come the referendum, it will not impact on the ruling class in any meaningful way. So I hope that after this vote, a lot of you take this passion and start using it in a productive way, tackling the problems we face, and trying to change the oppressive structures which keep us in our place.

Many thanks to:
Stephen Anthony Miller
for sharing his thoughts on the upcoming EU referendum.

16 Comments

Murray Sackwild

7/6/2016 12:45:16 am

I fully agree with the sentiment of all you say - however - Brexit will be a victory for the right and led by Johnson & Gove the ruling class will further embed its control - wiping away decades of hard-fought for rights for working people. I agree with you - both options are shit ... but IN is significantly less shit that out.

Dee Shoelace

7/6/2016 08:29:24 am

Murray Sackwild, well said

Denni Turp

7/6/2016 08:54:52 am

Very much agree with you, Murray.

Wendy Knight

7/6/2016 12:54:31 pm

Well put.

Geoff Bridges

7/6/2016 04:28:13 pm

When Obama and Clinton state that they would like the UK to stay in the EU you know it is in the UK's best interest to leave. The US has been the most destabilizing force for evil in the world for many decades and the sooner we distance ourselves from them, NATO as well as the EU the better.
When Goldman Sachs donate a six figure sum to the pro-EU camp you also know it is in the UK's best interest to leave.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-35366994
When a US crook like Jamie Dimon from disgraced bank JP Morgan pleads with the UK to stay in the EU you know it’s time to leave.

The simple matter is that the EU is undemocratic and too centralised. Left leaning luminaries like Tony Benn, Bob Crow and Michael Foot knew this and that is why they wanted to leave and some of us on the left also want to leave. (It’s a shame Jeremy Corbyn has aligned the Labour Party to the Remain camp although deep down he probably still has anti-EU sentiments and has only done this for party unity).

Most of the power of the EU is with the Commission (people of the calibre like Leon Brittan, Peter Mandelson, Neil Kinnock etc) who are unelected and the Council of Ministers (now called the Council of Europe or just Council) who are unelected within the EU but elected by their own country as an MP and “appointed” by their own prime minister as a minister. The EU parliament has very little power and that's what they allow us plebs to vote for every 5 years with only 43% voting in 2014, the lowest ever. The EU's own website states "The Council is not legally obliged to take account of Parliament's opinion".

Weighing up the pros and cons of the EU and whether we gain financially or not is pointless, the main criteria is that the EU is undemocratic and for that reason alone we should leave to maintain our independence, sovereignty and democracy (which does need reforming).

I agree the EU can sometimes be a moderating force against the excesses of a Tory government but I am banking on there next being a Labour government maybe led by Jeremy Corbyn and I don't want the EU dictating or moderating any of Labour policies even if JC has changed his mind and now wants to stay in for party unity. We can always vote out a UK government, we can’t vote out the EU Commission.
One area which needs addressing is to make the UK more democratic by having a form of proportional representation and the abolition of the House of Lords and the Monarchy. I would also like to see the UK leave Nato before the imperialist US drags us into another world conflict of their own making.

Why does everyone think the UK will be forever run by the Tories? Workers rights will be fine under a Labour government.
We have not been able to change the EU for the decades we have been members. The EU cannot and will not be changed.
What if the EU agrees to TTIP and GMO’s?
Voting for Brexit is not a vote for racism it is a vote for independence, sovereignty and democracy.
If we don’t like a Tory UK government we can vote them out. We can’t vote out the EU Commission.
Brexit could be a tremendous opportunity for a Labour left alliance in 2020. Without the supposed social constraints and moderating influence of the EU the Tories will be shown up for the nasty party that they really are turning the majority of the country against them. Boundary and constitutional changes are a problem for Labour but with the current energized youth able to vote in 2020 Brexit makes a Labour left alliance victory in 2020 or before much more likely even if we have to suffer just a few more years of rampant Tory rule. The UK out of the EU. What would be even better is a Labour/Greens/Liberal left coalition UK government which might send the Tories and their right wing policies in to the dustbin of history.

Vic

7/6/2016 11:18:35 pm

Seriously you think the UK is democratic? 25% of the electorate chose the current 100% controllers of the flow of legislation through parliament.
The second largest unelected chamber of sycophants and donors to political parties decides and amends the laws.
It's a sham
The UK is a joke and the reason those banks donated to keep UK in the EU is because the head offices would have to move to Brussels in order to keep access and influence over the wealthiest market place in the world. They aren't going to stick around London afterall.
The leave team are all for removing well established workers rights like paid holidays, sick leave, maternity pay, so they can retake advantage over the population for deeper exploitation.
Liberty my foot, it's Farage et al who want to take the power for themselves. The EU have been championing far more for everyman than any British governing party.

Sean Atkins

9/6/2016 05:44:28 pm

Very well put Geofff. I think we need to leave not only for the sake of our economy, we also need to take a hold of our border control. Anyone coming to work in the UK needs to know that it's a privilege not a right and that they must contribute to our economy for ideally 5 years before they areentitled to any of our benefits.

Jenny

7/6/2016 10:10:29 am

There is undoubtedly truth in this article but, what it fails to acknowledge is the extra tiers of plutocracy presently exercised by the bureaucrats in Brussels.
And therein lies the crux of the referendum !

Neil

8/6/2016 01:01:11 am

This is the fundamental flaw with the Brexit argument, that there is 'more bureaucrats with power than there is in national govts', or the old chestnut 'the commission makes all the decisions'. Both are assumptions, fed by the media and the Conservative party, and are incorrect. There are in fact 50,000 bureaucrats running the EU's organisation spanning every single EU nation. We have 400,000 bureaucrats working for the UK parliament. Please explain how the EU, which is after all the economic hub of Europe is 'overwhelmed by powerful bureaucrats' when it's governing body uses a tenth of what our govt alone does?

As for the 'all powerful commission', the commission, like our Govt's bureaucrats, actually draws up the legislation, as does every bureaucracy. Does anyone actually think our MP's do this? I can assure you they don't. They give the senior civil servants a rough outline of what they want, the under secretary, Grade !'s and 2's go away and draw up the legislation in detail, then another unelected body, the Law Lords, tell the govt whether they 'think', it will fly. This is exactly, bar the legal advisors being lords, what happens in the EU. The MEPS then vote on the legislation and it becomes EU law. It is then passed to national govts to vote on, or, it can be rejected up front. We had two examples of this in the coalitions first month in power. EU law is, as with normal UK law, passed to the senior civil servants, who amend to taste, it is then passed to parliament to vote on, and either amended again or is accepted on the to the statute book (after Committee stage). Hansard shows just 13% of our legislation comes from the EU.

Hardly the 'domination' or 'loss of sovereignty' the brexit brigade claim.

The biggest problem, as the writer of the piece says, is not 'EU domination' but political corruption, and rule by wealth, and that won't change, in fact without the legal brakes in the EU on certain activities, it, in all probability, will get worse.

abc

7/6/2016 02:42:38 pm

Yes, we agree. But if you're a migrant, Brexit will make it harder for you to work and live in Britain, the country where some of us have spent our entire adult lives. So please, think about us and our families when you make your cross. We can't vote, so please use your vote in solidarity. Fight the ruling class with us!

Geoff Bridges

7/6/2016 04:26:43 pm

If you know who those elites are and those elites are pleading with the UK to stay in the EU and you want to defy those elites then surely you would vote LEAVE.
When Obama and Clinton state that they would like the UK to stay in the EU you know it is in the UK's best interest to leave. The US has been the most destabilizing force for evil in the world for many decades and the sooner we distance ourselves from them, NATO as well as the EU the better.
When Goldman Sachs donate a six figure sum to the pro-EU camp you also know it is in the UK's best interest to leave.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-35366994
When a US crook like Jamie Dimon from disgraced bank JP Morgan pleads with the UK to stay in the EU you know it’s time to leave.

Vic

7/6/2016 11:20:27 pm

It's the elites backing the Outers who are the ones who want to retake the power and privileges that people enjoy like maternity pay, free health care, sick leave, job security. Just look at who it is who's behind these bandits

Howard Clark

7/6/2016 09:33:38 pm

Well said. And in reply to the guy about unelected representatives, we have a whole second chamber packed full of unelected representatives and it's called the House of Lords. The City of London had its very own unelected representative in the House of Commons too. Last but not least the Royal family are unelected too and if you believe they don't have an effect on what happens in our country then I believe you're very wrong.

Paul Bradshaw

8/6/2016 10:25:46 am

The EU is a tool of the ruling class and as such needs to be disengaged. The commentary rightfully points out no matter how we vote on June 23rd the ruling class will still rule, but they only rule because we the electors allow them to rule.
First we must disengage the EU
Second we must change our electoral system, FPTP has been hugely discredited.
With a fairer electoral system, where every vote counts, no government could claim a mandate with 24% of the vote.
The ruling class would still be there, however, without express will if the majority of electors, would be disarmed. A more balanced and more liberal society could exist.

Check out https://www.facebook.com/Alliance4PR-1082300235143355/

Let's make the changes needed.

Jim Blythe

8/6/2016 07:51:48 pm

TTIP has just been vetoed by Francois Hollande. It will have to be revised. We are not the only country in the EU, and it is not "us and them" as the Brexiters would have you believe: other governments can, and do, act as a brake on excessively right-wing (or excessively left-wing) policies, at least as far as the EU as a whole is concerned. Within your own country, do what you like as long as it doesn't affect the others: France has much stricter labour laws than we do, and at present their government is trying to roll them back, which is why there are strikes and protests - but the EU is not involved, because France is, like us, a sovereign nation. Equally, Spain has better unemployment benefits than us, and at least as good a health system - the EU does not pay attention to that, Spain is a sovereign country. If we leave, we are at the mercy of an unelected government (only 36% of the vote) and in fact due to our electoral system, most governments we elect only have a minority of the vote. The EU is far from perfect, but it is our most powerful neighbour and economically at least the most powerful bloc in the world - if we leave, we will not only have to sit still and do as we're told, we will have no say whatsoever in the policies and we will (on present evidence) be ruled, in the short term, by some of the most rabid right-wingers to have achieved prominence in the last 40 years of UK politics. As one of the most powerful, influential members of the EU we can shape policy for millions of people - outside, we are not even in as good a position as Turkey.

Bob

10/6/2016 03:53:37 pm

In the #uk We call that #Oxbridge

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Brussels does not rule Britain the ruling class does

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