In the coming UK parliamentary by-election in Makerfield, apart from the two confessed jokers, candidates will all be putting out the same message:
‘Trust me, I have a plan that’s guaranteed to make life better for you’
Some will add a rider that there will be challenges ahead, there’ll be sweat and tears, but in the long run it’ll come right.
The plans will differ slightly, of course, but they will all have this in common – they’ll ignore the inescapable reality of the capitalist system, in which the profits of the minority will always take precedence over any other considerations, precedence over any of the needs or desires of working-class voters.