Comments by "80s Music" (@eightiesmusic1984) on "Zarah Sultana deconstructs government's anti-strike bill in passionate speech" video.

I do not find her delivery persuasive at all. There are excellent speakers on the left like John McDonnell and Richard Burgon.
5
Right to strike is fundamental and they can succeed. But the workers this time are sadly deluded if they think they are not going to be sold out by many of the unions who will settle for pathetic pay deals that are still pay cuts in real terms. Led to the top of the hill and then that will be it for another decade or more as pay worsens year on year. The workers have not woken up to the fact that this is it as the UK economic model implodes- low pay is the new normal and it is not going to change. Labour is no friend to the workers as they will find out if and when it is in government. Many of the unions have stood by and done little about pay for over a decade, which is reprehensible, and they will not be advocating rolling strikes as pay deteriorates in the next two decades.
3
@laurieharper1526 Thanks for stating the obvious. It is about content. Agreed. There is no suggestion of a template that everyone should conform to- makes no sense. I don't think Ian Lavery is a persuasive speaker either although the content of what he says I would agree with. I disagree with the right of the Labour Party on most things but some of them are good communicators.
3
@pierremartini2229 Of course it is. Class consciousness is much weaker compared to the past even though class defines everything. Most people do not realise it, thus hampering understanding of the predicament the workers are in. The unions are hobbled by the most restrictive anti union legislation in Europe. They cannot organise properly in the private sector due to the transience of the workforce. Apathy and fatalism are major impediments to change. Poor political literacy and lack of knowledge of history means few understand the struggles of the past, even in the last forty years. Public opinion is very fickle and blows with the wind, easily manipulated by the media. A poorly educated population is unable or unwilling to question the lies and propaganda. Neoliberalism is broadly accepted by the public whether it realises it or not-a coherent vision of a better society is not being articulated as part of a national conversation. The primary vehicle for this capitulated to neoliberalism under Blair and will make the same mistakes under Starmer. The problems of today have been 43 years in the making and there is little reason to believe that the ruling class and public are prepared to repudiate neoliberalism, the root cause of all of our ills. Only this would create the space for a different settlement but Britain is in all probability too far gone.
2
@kentonian In that case why has neoliberalism not been repudiated by the ruling political establishment of the three main parties? It is hard baked into the economy, political discourse and the social fabric. Time and again working people vote against their own interests under FPTP and apathy towards unions is rife. Only a minority are politically minded.
2
@pierremartini2229 Different context. If you think the current wave is going to make any sustainable difference to living standards you would be mistaken.
1
@kentonian Not conflating anything. I don't think you understand that weakening workers' rights is a key tenet of neoliberalism. Widening inequality is not a bug in the system in neoliberalism, it is part of the project to transfer wealth from the poor to the rich. Income inequality has been widening for decades yet the electorate under FPTP has returned the Tories to power time and again despite this.
1