On Tuesday Starmer announced the government's long-waited Defence Investment Plan (DIP) to the tune of £298bn over 4 years. Yes, the same one which led to the "no-confidence" resignation of Defence Secretary John Healey, who said it "was not enough". And which turned out to be the final nail in the coffin of Starmer's premiership...
Maybe that's the reason why Starmer's presentation of this DIP was so melodramatic. He recalled his shock and horror when he visited Ukraine. He went on to claim that the DIP was actually Britain's preparation for "war against Russia", explaining that Russian (nuclear?) submarines are patrolling the seas and threatening to blow up Britain's communication networks of fibre-optic cables. And you'd better believe it!
He says the DIP's now been increased by £15bn a year. But he still made a case for a "fleet" of drones as an adjunct to the fleet of ageing naval destroyers, which the government can't afford to replace. He explained about purchasing 12 very expensive aircraft capable of carrying nuclear weapons, as well as a project to develop a stealth fighter jet for the Royal Air Force, "alongside our close allies Japan and Italy"... So, all good? Yes indeed, so good that one could almost see Starmer bidding to be Burnham's defence secretary!
Shabana knows all about xenophobia
Also this Tuesday, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced her own latest "weapon". In this case, for the war on migrants, refugees and asylum seekers... They will now have to pay for their accommodation, when and if they are granted the right to work - and when and if they find a job - to the tune of £10,000!
Perhaps she, in turn, is hoping for a future appointment under the King of the North? She's certainly hell-bent on being seen as the Home Office's own Cruella de Vill She has adopted the policies of all those who went before her, including Theresa May, imitating her round-ups and arrests of suspected "illegal" migrant workers, using special police vans and placing them in deportation centres.
But whether Burnham will need her or not in his Cabinet is another question. After all, he's already credited with "seeing off" Reform in Makerfield, so he hardly needs to play the current government's game of out-Reforming Reform...
That said, it's worth mentioning that the "model" for the "March and March" anti-immigrant and sometimes-homicidal xenophobic protests in South Africa is none other than the Farage-inspired anti-immigrant rampage through North Belfast, the attempts to burn down migrant hotels, etc... Their deadline for all "illegal workers to go home" was today, 30 June. Which Mahmood coincidentally observed with her own crackdown.
North, South, we have no country!
The King of the North - or now No. 10 in the North - isn't saying who exactly will be in his future cabinet. But it doesn't really matter, since he's planning to take over the wheel of the very same ship.
And we all know from (too-often-repeated) experience that whoever steers it, will chart the self-same course. "Keep the bosses happy" is the motto of every government.
So Burnham may have announced the "biggest council housing building project in history" coming our way soon, but even for that, he'll be fully hamstrung by capitalist property developers. And they'll be out to make a profit, come what may.
It took the 1930s Depression and the vast tent cities of the homeless ("Hoovervilles") for the Roosevelt government in the USA to implement a programme of government-sponsored jobs, to build public works - but even then, and even in the richest capitalist country in the world, this gave only temporary respite: it fell far short of need.
Today there are over 400,000 homeless in England alone (including rough sleepers), one million NEETs and several million unemployed older workers. There are many who can only find temporary jobs on the minimum wage or on a zero-hour contract. They can't afford rent. This is, in fact, the "best" British capitalists care to provide!
If they are to "offer jobs" and/or housing - whether at the behest of a Burnham or anyone else, they'll want an incentive - i.e., enough filthy lucre to line their pockets! Building social housing and paying living wages doesn't fit their bill.
As Marx said, force is the engine of history. These bosses will need to face our full force and our full strength before we start to win the battles for decent work, wages and housing for all. And it's precisely in our diversity - wherever we come from - and in our numbers that we'll find that strength! So let's remember another quote from Marx: workers have no country. We have a world to win.