On the weekend of the 2019 Conservative party conference, a banner was hung in Manchester decrying the death toll of Tory policies, and vowing working class revenge. This banner has been met with a mixed reception. From the majority of the workers’ movement, the reaction has been one of agreement and humor. It’s always good to see the Tories squirm when they come to Manchester, and it’s right that we should want to make them pay for the immeasurable suffering they have imposed on our class.
The reaction from the mainstream press has been as expected; it has been declared as unacceptable, violent and (laughably) a “terrorism threat” according to one Conservative on their way into the city.
Disgracefully, some of the left have chimed in with this sentiment.
It is necessary to point out that the comrades who hung the banner should not be held to the standards of liberal debate or the frilly, two faced “respectful” language of politicians. Our class has been ravaged by a decade of Tory austerity, and a decade of Blarite betrayals before that. We owe them no politeness, no courtesy.
When we are respectful we are ignored, when we are angry we are condemned. We cannot play by their rules because they are not meant for us. Our priority as a movement and a class must be unity and action. We have neither the time, nor the responsibility of considering hurt Tory feelings.
