Alex Snowdon on war, finance and fascism

The weekend brought the appalling news of Israel’s bombing of a school in Gaza where Palestinians were sheltering. At least 30 people are reported dead. Nearly 10 months into the genocide, it is a reminder that Israel continues to inflict terrible collective punishment on the Palestinians.

We also had a reminder of the double standards and dehumanisation that have characterised discussion of Gaza since last October. The BBC News website, like many media outlets, gave greater prominence to the killing of 12 Israelis than to the strike on a school in Gaza. Palestinian lives are cheap. Israel has, inevitably, used the killing of Israelis to ramp up attacks on Hezbollah, which denies responsibility for the killings, with air strikes on several targets in Lebanon.

In the same week, there was a vivid illustration of why Israel continues to get away with it. Those of us who have engaged with Palestine for many years are not easily shocked by American support for the apartheid state, but the repeated standing ovations when Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu addressed Congress were still shocking – and nauseating. Netanyahu’s reception will have reassured him that Israel retains Washington’s backing. This is despite the undeniable tensions between the two countries – the latest example of which is Washington’s warning to Israel to avoid escalating conflict with Hezbollah.

Beneath the surface, however, there was evidence of cracks in wall of support for Israeli apartheid. Around half of Democratic Party representatives – in both the Senate and the House of Representatives – stayed away. Nonetheless, anyone who thinks the Democrats are ‘progressive’, or an alternative to Donald Trump, ought to reflect on the fact that so many Democrats applauded Netanyahu in the midst of genocide. They might also reflect on President Biden’s record of political and practical support.

There has been considerable hype in liberal circles about Kamala Harris, newly selected to take on Trump in November’s presidential election. Yet she has failed to dissent from Biden’s support for Israel. She issued a statement last week that backed Netanyahu and slammed the protesters who condemned ongoing US support for genocide.

During July, we have seen a number of significant – and more hopeful – political developments around Gaza. The recent ruling by the International Court of Justice that Israel is guilty of apartheid in the occupied territories, and that the occupation is illegal under international law, was globally significant. It complements and reinforces the separate ICJ judgement that Israel has a case to answer on genocide.

This has been followed by two important developments in British politics. The restoration of UK funding for UNRWA, the UN body that supports Palestinian refugees in the occupied territories including Gaza, reversed a particularly abhorrent policy from the dying days of the Tory government. Keir Starmer’s new Labour government also announced that it will drop any attempts to block the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrants for those accused of war crimes and genocide.

Both of these policy reversals were among the demands put forward by Palestine solidarity campaigners in the run up to the general election. They reflect lobbying by campaigners and, even more importantly, the nationwide mass movement of recent months – in particular the huge national demonstrations that have ramped up political pressure. Also, the election of five pro-Palestine independent MPs (and excellent votes for candidates like Andrew Feinstein, Leanne Mohamad and Michael Lavalette) made it clear that there’s a political cost for Starmer’s Labour Party supporting and enabling genocide.

But the most important political demand on the UK government still needs to be won. This is the demand for a full arms embargo to stop the buying and selling of arms between Israel and the UK. It has been reported that the government is planning a partial change to the rules, but a full embargo will require further campaigning and mobilising. It makes Saturday’s national demonstration – with ‘Stop Arming Israel’ a central slogan – very timely.

The far right resurgent?

Saturday saw tens of thousands of people fill Trafalgar Square for a demonstration led by Tommy Robinson, the most prominent figure in the contemporary far right in Britain. It was probably the biggest far right mobilisation in this country for a very long time, building on the success of a major demonstration at the start of June. It also follows the success of Reform UK in gaining over four million votes in the general election on a right-wing populist platform.

This represents a street movement with a fascist core, drawing in support from a wider layer of people with racist views. It is a movement that takes encouragement from the limited but notable electoral breakthrough for Reform. Those who are central to the movement will be hoping to build on it with more demonstrations around the country and the development of more durable and stable far right organisation.

It is far from clear that they will succeed. The infrastructure of the far right is currently very weak – there is no nationwide organisation comparable to the National Front, British National Party or English Defence League in earlier periods. A big day out in central London is one thing, but getting sizeable street mobilisations in other areas is a bigger challenge. This hasn’t happened yet, though it is easy to envisage racist and far right forces exploiting favourable situations when they arise.

There is no room for complacency for anti-racists. Saturday shows what is possible. Greater coherence and stronger organisation could still develop on the radical right of politics. A number of European countries have already indicated how this can happen – whether in street protests or electoral politics or both.

Tommy Robinson’s supporters are feeding off a climate of official racism, with Islamophobia the dominant motif. They can also potentially exploit any failures by the government to address the underlying economic issues – from housing to insecure unemployment to low pay – that far right forces have always tried to use to their advantage. The two recent big demonstrations have been fuelled, also, by a backlash against the huge Palestine demonstrations, viewed by Robinson supporters as an example of ‘Islamism’.

Stand up to Racism’s 5000-strong demonstration on Saturday was backed by many of the trade unions. In the months ahead, much more needs to be done to coalesce a movement that can push back against the racists and fascists.

Black holes and wealth gaps

In last week’s briefing, I noted the dilemma facing Rachel Reeves, incoming chancellor of the exchequer. I pointed out that tax rises directed at the wealthy could resolve the issue of where to find the funding for pay rises and investment in public services. This issue has been very prominent over the last week, with stories about Labour supposedly discovering a £20 billion ‘black hole’ in the public finances.

This is a bit of rhetorical silliness. There have been no fresh discoveries that have surprised anyone in the know – including Rachel Reeves. Labour already knew, during the election campaign, about the state of the finances. Instead of being transparent, they pretended that it would be possible to avoid tax rises in government.

A new report from the Resolution Foundation, published on Sunday, outlines the scope for wealth taxes that could raise £10 billion a year. It outlines the growth in wealth concentrated at the top of society and shows that there is now massive wealth inequality. But it also exposes how wealth-related taxes have remained low, which means that there is enormous untapped potential for extracting money from the richest.

The report argues for Labour to reform both inheritance tax and capital gains tax to raise funds. These two areas of taxation between them could raise an extra £9.5 billion. Reeves could announce them in October’s budget statement and direct the revenue into boosting public sector pay and services.

But the chancellor could easily go further than this. She has previously ruled out increases to income tax and corporation tax, yet there is no sound reason for neglecting these. They are progressive taxes where there is scope for raising money by targeting those at the top. This is the bare minimum required if there is to be any hope of overcoming many years of austerity and redressing the appalling inequality in our society.