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News & Comment
British Government Accused of Deception! So What’s the News?
News:
British media reports on a leaked government document have provoked reactions from opposition politicians accusing the government of dishonesty and of having plans for the future that will embolden the capitalists, while trampling on the rights of ordinary citizens.
The Guardian Newspaper wrote, “According to the report, the leaked document said the way the political declaration – the agreement setting out the aims of the future trade negotiations between the UK and the EU – had drafted workers’ rights and environmental protection commitments left “room for interpretation”.
It reportedly boasts that “UK negotiators successfully resisted the inclusion of all UK-wide level playing-field rules” in the previous deal negotiated by Theresa May’s team, allowing Britain to compete against EU members by possibly watering down rights.”
Comment:
It has long been known that you cannot trust politicians in Britain and that British politics is almost all deception, however Brexit has brought that reality to the fore; distrust is at an all time high, even among the politicians themselves. Talk of the government lying to the people and misleading parliament is now common; such that it is hard to see how the government can operate in such a toxic environment.
A further example of this is the news that two political parties are trying to bring forward the proposed general election date by just three days. The BBC reported, “The parties say they reject Boris Johnson's later election date, which they believe would include time for him to "ram through" his Brexit Bill.” The article also mentioned, “Labour has rejected his election call unless a no-deal Brexit is taken off the table.”
The parliamentarians are also seeking a longer Brexit extension to "remove the risk of a devastating no-deal Brexit", but also that they could not support Mr Johnson forcing through "a bad deal".
Whilst it is true that the government in Britain can never be trusted, this should not have come as a surprise to anyone, nor should anyone be fooled by the opposition parliamentarians making loud condemnations of their opponents’ future plans. In a capitalist democracy, this is to be expected. All of these political parties have in their own time stripped the people of their rights and worked to secure the interests of the capitalist elite; this is their primary job description.
Britain’s relationship with Europe in recent decades has never been open and honest. It has certainly not ever been about bringing European oversight to reign in the abuses of the capitalists, even if that was a temporary side effect of recent political manoeuvres. The capitalist business owners have always viewed the ordinary people as expendable, but at the same time have been willing to offer them some crumbs, especially if there was a benefit for themselves in making a trade deal with Europe, for a while.
Such deals, just like all policies, declarations of rights, or laws, in a capitalist democratic society are always temporary and actually secure very few rights for the ordinary people. Deep down people know this, but too often are willing to believe the popular fantasy that the opposition politicians and media will hold the government to account, to keep them safe from capitalists who would abuse them.
What has become clearer during the whole Brexit fiasco, however, is just how closely all politicians and the media in Britain actually work with the capitalist elite to mislead the people from debating the real political events; instead offering them a well choreographed dance to shift attention onto secondary matters, while the serious political decisions go unscrutinised.
Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by
Yahya Nisbet
Media Representative of Hizb ut Tahrir in Britain