The House of bond
Socialist Organiser1981 1981-09-17Read it in the scan (PDF), scan page 10 →
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"YOU don't set up another Royal Commission, you don't set up another interdepartmental committee, you don't have another clutch of programmes on Panorama about what shall we do with the Lords you do it" ' That's Tony Benn on abolishing the House of Lords.
Nothing has aroused more scorn. Scrapping the House of Lords overnight won't solve all our problems, the right wingers snort!
Feudal
Indeed it won't. But if the Labour Party, after 80 years' opposition to the House of Lords, can't summon up the will to scrap it overnight, then how can we hope to do anything bigger?
Socialism without abolishing the House of Lords is an absurdity, like workers' control in a factory with the workers tugging their forelocks to the manager.
The monarchy, another remnant of feudalism, also needs to be abolished.
And Tony Benn points out that the civil service bureaucrats have more real power than elected governments. Ihrough them, "most real power in Britam still resides outside Pariament, with those who control finance and industry."
Dismantle
The Freedom of Information Act proposed by Tony Benn should be a start in dismantling this undemocratic power. The top civil servants should be replaced by elected and accountable officials, and Cane existing armed forces, dominated by class warriors like the notorious General Frank Kitson, should be disbanded.
Tony Benn also says: "It is strange that we should accept as normal that the electorate can hire and fire a Prime Minister but thatworkers can't hire and fire their management." Nationalisation needs to be combined with workers' control, through regularly elected and recallable delegates.
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