 Can I start by thanking everyone who took part in this election, this huge democratic exercise of more than half a million people all across this country? It showed our party and our movement passionate, democratic, diverse, united and absolutely determined in our quest for a decent and better society that is possible for all. On Saturday the 12th of September, Jeremy Corbyn, the veteran left-wing MP, was elected the new leader of the Labour Party with almost 60% of the vote. This landslide victory has sent tremors across the political landscape in Britain. Here we discuss with Alan Woods, editor of Marxist.com, who stresses the significance of this Corbyn victory. The victory of Jeremy Corbyn as leader of the Labour Party last weekend was a veritable political earthquake which has fundamentally transformed the political landscape of this country. It is yet another earthquake similar to the one we saw earlier in Scotland, both in the referendum and in the general election. In Ireland with the referendum on equal marriage and of course in Spain with the rise of Podemos, in Greece with the victory of Syriza. It's part of an international phenomenon which represents a major shift in the consciousness of the masses, of the population, of the working class and the youth in particular. I would say in every country, even in the United States, you get the phenomenon of Bernie Sanders. This represents a sea change in the entire situation which will have tremendous consequences. The first thing which strikes one is the size of this victory, looking at the television screens and seeing the face of the so-called Labour grandees of the Blairites who dominated, hijacked the Labour Party in effect and dominated it for decades. One could see that these people were stunned as the ruling class, the journalists, the press pundits, the BBC, all of them were stunned by the sheer scale of this vote. Jeremy Corbyn got almost 60% of the total vote. Yes, among the new people and hundreds of thousands of new people have now signed up to the Labour Party supporting Corbyn, supporting the left, he got 85% which is an absolutely amazing result by any standards and even of the existing party members, he got 49%. In other words he won on all the basic areas of the Labour Party which now of course places the Blairites, the right wing, these renegades, these agents of big business and capitalism, these agents of the City of London infiltrated into the Labour Party. It makes me laugh when they talk about infiltration, which the Labour Party has been suffering for decades without any protest whatsoever from the mass media by people who were entirely alien, alien to the working class, alien to the Labour Party, alien to the Labour movement and people by the way who were entirely divorced, remote from the problems, the real problems, the real life of working class people in the factories, on the estates, in the unemployed offices and so on. People who really were carpetbaggers, careerists of the worst sort, who nevertheless spoke with great arrogance and great confidence until very recently, as if they alone were entitled to speak for millions of people in Britain, as if they alone were entitled to speak for the Labour Party. You know, they treated the Labour Party, these ladies and gentlemen, treated the Labour Party almost as if it were their private property. Well now of course that has been exploded. As the media and maybe many of us simply didn't understand the views of many young people within our society, they had been written off as a non-political generation who was simply not interested, at least the relatively low turnout and low level of registration of young people in the last general election. They weren't. They were a very political generation that were turned off by the way in which politics was being conducted and not attracted or not interested to it. We have to and must and must change that. And what we see here is something which these people were unaware of because they were completely out of touch in this Westminster gigantic bubble of privilege and wealth. That's what it is. They were remote and they didn't see the mood, the tremendous mood of anger, of discontent, of rage, of indignation. I would say above all of frustration, which has been felt by millions of ordinary people. In Scotland of course you saw that and also England and Wales is no different. The same burning anger and resentment exists particularly of course since the crisis of 2008. The biggest crisis in the history of capitalism was according to these people who was not supposed to have occurred. Ever since that time, from 2008 onwards, there's been constant attacks on living standards, on workers' rights, on housing, on jobs, against the youth, against women and so on and so forth. Which has created an enormous feeling above all, a feeling of frustration against the entire establishment and a feeling above all in relation to politics that these people do not represent me. These people do not represent us. And that of course is entirely true. Now this was the mood that was shown in Scotland, that's the reason for it by the way. It wasn't so much the national question that entered into it. It was a vote of protest against the establishment of which, unfortunately, the Labour Party was clearly identified in the form of these Blair-like elements. Now of course you see the same phenomenon in England. It didn't surprise us in the slightest degree. It didn't surprise the Marxists that such a phenomenon would occur. We anticipated it. Here you had an enormous movement which left these ladies and gentlemen where their mouths opened. They could not believe it, they could not understand it and they cannot understand it. The reason for that is that they can't understand the real process is taking place in the real world outside this little clique of politicals and careerists. These ladies and gentlemen in the comfort of parliament. Now what is expressed now is really a revolution. It is like a, it's like a political revolution of people who felt themselves to be politically dispossessed, who felt that they were not represented and now demand that their voice be heard. Of course this is stunned the right way. It stunned these people in parliament, they weren't expecting it. And of course they were confident that it's quite interesting. Initially they said Corbyn stood no chance. It appeared that he stood no chance whatsoever. I think the bookies were given, I don't know, one hundred to one. I wish I'd put a bet. Unfortunately I'm not a betting person. And this rank outsider, this man who was not supposed to have a single chance, who was only permitted, graciously permitted to go on the list of candidates out of the kind-heartedness of some of the right-wing who foolishly imagined that he wouldn't stand a chance. This man now sits on Labour's front bench today. I noted in the trade union the debate would seem to be quite a lively thing. With John McDonnell, another outstanding left-wing leader, is leading the late party. If that isn't a political revolution, if that isn't an earthquake, I don't know what is. This week the Tories will show what they're really made of. On Monday they have the trade union bill designed to undermine even the ILO conventions and shackle democratic unions and destroy another element of democracy within our society. We have to oppose that. They're also pushing the welfare reform bill which will bring such misery and poverty to so many of the poorest in our society. I want us as a movement to be proud, strong and able to stand up and say we want to live in a society where we don't pass by on the other side of those people rejected by an unfair welfare system. Instead we reach out to end the scourge of homelessness and desperation that so many people face in our society. We're strong enough and big enough and able to do that. That is what we're about. Now the question arises what's going to happen? Millions of people are asking the question it's very good that Jeremy Corbyn got elected but what's he going to do? This of course is the $34,000 question and of course we must be clear about this. There is no way whatever that the ruling class, the bankers, the capitalists, the establishment, the City of London is going to tolerate that the Labour Party will fall into the hands of what they consider to be dangerous left wingers in reality people who aspire to adjust to an affairs society people that aspire to socialism. There's no way that they can allow that to happen without a fight and that means a very savage, a very bitter, a very bloody fight with no holds barred. You see this already, with the press, our famous free press, so-called free press which is in reality a press and a mass media which represents the interest of the status quo of the establishment, of the wealthy, of the people who really run Britain. The BBC has played a particularly business or Jeremy Corbyn correctly protested about this a particularly pernicious role in slandering and attacking and it's really a one-sided thing, the so-called fair press so-called impartial BBC media, well no such thing, no such thing. It's been a hatchet job from start to finish and it continues. Prior to this they were slandering him in one way or another now the line is, oh this man is unelectable. He's only just been elected by the biggest margin of any political leader in political history probably. Certainly a bigger margin than what that wretch, Tony Blair, got a few years back. And he has of course an unassailable mandate, it's a democratic mandate. Even the bourgeois press is compelled to admit that. The question is how will he use this mandate? Now in my opinion, of course Jeremy will do whatever he thinks fit but if he will permit me to give a little bit of comradely and friendly advice, Jeremy you must be prepared for a stand-up, knock him down and drag him out fight. You must be prepared for a fight with no holes bar. It's fatal, it would be fatal to have any illusions on this because the bourgeoisie of the capitalist class is determined to keep their hold on the Labour Party and their agents in the Labour Party, that's what they are. The Tristram Hunts and the other elements, the Blairite faction are going to conduct a really vicious fight to stop you from carrying out the things which you're trying to do, which of course we support. A more just society, the interests of working class, the homeless, the unemployed, the youth, the women. Of course, we support all of that, we support you in this. Yes, but you must go into this with your eyes open. Otherwise it's a fatal mistake. I conclude by this. The Tories have used the economic crisis of 2008 to impose a terrible burden on the poorest people in this country. Those that have seen their wages frozen or cut, those that can't afford to even sustain themselves properly, those that rely on food banks to get by. It's not right, it's not necessary and it's got to change. We need an economic strategy that improves people's lives, that expands our economy, that reaches out to care for everybody. You can't do that if at the same time you do nothing about grotesque levels of inequality within our society. We need to develop an economic policy that deals with those issues. You see, they are preparing, they've said so. They've been quite open about it. They're organised, they are very organised by the way. These people in the Parliament, the Labour Party, 90% of which didn't vote for you, of course. 90% of which are defying the interests and the aspirations of millions of Labour members, activists and voters. This is the real state of affairs. They've said quite openly, they did not want you as leader and they're determined to get rid of you. By any means possible. Now, it is true that this massive, this splendid, this outstanding, stunning result, of course, has set them back a little bit. But be under no illusions that the plots are going to continue. Anyone who thinks that these people are going to give up easily are very much mistaken. And therefore we must be prepared. Now, in what way can we deal with this problem? It is clear that the Parliamentary Labour Party, people that aspire to be leaders and Labour members of Parliament must represent the Labour Party, the real Labour Party. And of course they must, the vote is clear, the votes are there. They must support Jeremy Corbyn. If they do not support Jeremy Corbyn, as I read in the paper today, Paul Kennedy pointed out, to the right wing, to the bare rights, either you support Corbyn, either you support Jeremy Corbyn or really speaking, you should leave the party. I say here, here. I say well done, correct. You see, the point is this. By what right do these gentlemen, and by the way they're all lawyers and doctors and teachers and people of that age, completely remote from the working class, who've parachuted into the Labour Party and hides active, that's the truth of the matter, for decades. By what right do they cling to their positions when they no longer represent the aspirations and views clearly expressed by democratic means, by millions of Labour members and supporters? By what right? Surely local Labour parties have the right, the democratic right, are we? Labour Party is supposed to be a democratic party. Do they not have the right to decide who should represent them in Parliament? And therefore I think it is correct that up and down the country, Labour activists, Labour parties, local Labour parties should keep the conduct and the behaviour and the speeches and the articles of their members of Parliament under review. And if the rank and fraud discovered that the MPs are not acting in a proper manner, are not being loyal to the Labour Party and not being loyal to the elected leader of the Labour Party and his policies, well, surely they should be called to account. Who can deny this? There's a big who are, which puzzles me, it amuses me if it wasn't so serious in the BBC, in the press. Oh, you mustn't remove members of Parliament. You mustn't deselect them. I say, why not? Good heavens above. If a government doesn't represent us, we have the right to turf it up. If a Labour MP doesn't represent us, they also should be turfed up and shown the door. Why not? You see, there's no hope for the future of the Labour Party. It's marvellous that they've elected the left wing leader and Jeremy Corbyn, whom we support, naturally. But you see, there's no hope for Jeremy and there's no hope for the Labour Party as long as 90% of the Labour MPs are on the right wing. 90% are declared Blairites and declared enemies of Jeremy Corbyn. And therefore, I would say, declared enemies of the Labour Party, yes, of course. And therefore, the struggle for internal democracy is a big issue. Of course, what I would encourage people to join the Labour Party, join the Labour Party, yes, but join the Labour Party to fight for genuine socialist policies. But we go forward now as a movement and a party, bigger than we've ever been for a very, very long time, stronger than we've ever been for a very long time, more determined than we've been for a very long time, to show to everyone that the objectives of our party are intact, our passion is intact, our demand for humanity is intact and we as a party are going to reach out to everyone in this country to take us on that journey together so no one is left on the side, everyone has a decent chance in life and a decent place within our society. That's what Labour was brought about to achieve, that is what we're going to achieve. This election campaign is, as we see here, about shaping our future. Our party is going to, I hope, become more inclusive, more involved, more democratic and we're going to shape the future of everyone in this country in a way that I think will be remembered as something that is good for everyone, that brings about the justice that we all crave and that is what brought us into this wonderful party and this wonderful movement ourselves. There are many aspects of Jeremy's programme which are absolutely correct and we support 100%, but in my view, for example, the re-nationalisation of certain utilities and of the railways and transport system, this is absolutely clear. It's common sense, I think, to any ordinary man and woman up and down the country. Incidentally, the argument that Jeremy Corbyn is unelectable, coming from people, by the way, who themselves show themselves to be incapable of winning any election, let's be clear about that. Here's a Christian Hunt as a case in point. Unelectable, when it is clear that it was stated the other day that 60%, even if you keep voters, say they prepared to vote for Jeremy Corbyn. Now, that's an astonishing statement first. The reason being that many of these people are not really right-wing elements, but they were so disgusted with the existing policy, right-wing Labour leaders and so on, that they voted in protest for UKIP. Now, those votes and even Conservative votes, certainly many Liberal and Green voters, will be attracted by a left-wing Labour Party, by a Corbyn Labour Party, and therefore it is entirely untrue. It's an unfounded propaganda, lying, mendacious, malicious campaign to say Corbyn is unelectable. He's not at all unelectable. But there's just one thing that I would point out in a friendly way to Jeremy Corbyn and the other leaders of Labour Party. You see, the experience of Greece, which is recent in our minds, conclusively proves one thing. It is impossible to carry through a programme of serious reform, and we're in favour of reforms, of course, in favour of any step that will improve the living standards of the people and the workers and the youth and the women of Britain. But it's impossible to do this as long as the banks and capitalists control the key points of the economy. And therefore, I suppose you could say I'm an old-fashioned socialist, but there's no harm in that, an idea is not necessarily a wrong idea for being old and it's not necessarily a good idea for being new. I stand for the real programme of the Labour Party, which, of course, was the clause for part four of the Labour Party constitution. It was overthrown by Blair in a counter-revolution within the party. That is to say, we should stand clearly for the nationalisation of the banks and the big monopolies. Not the small shops, not the small farms, not the small bars and pubs. They can stay in private hands, not interested in that. And because it's only in that way that we can take on and destroy the power of the city, the power of the bankers. This privileged streak of unelected individuals who for so long have really exercised a dictatorial control over the British economy, over the British people, and yes, over the British government also. It is absolutely essential, if we're going to get out of the crisis in Britain, that there be a clear break with capitalism, a clear break with the capitalist system and the overthrow of this monstrous dictatorship or the clique of wealthy people, the 1% that really control the destinies, not only of Britain, but of the whole world. And therefore, I would say to Jeremy, I would say, look, it's marvellous what you've done. You've achieved miracles and, of course, we support you 100% in your struggle against the right wing, in your struggle for justice and a better society. However, it is necessary to dot the i's and cross the t's. It is necessary to say what is. Enough of mealy-mouthed, indirect politics, which is the same of itself. It's the same to speak clearly on any subject. Enough of fudging and muddling and confusing the issue. Let's tell the truth. You see, that's the only way to take on the right wing, because they say to you, well, what about the deficit? You talk about all this, what about the deficit? What's your answer? Well, the answer's perfectly clear. I think on occasion you've touched upon this, which is a good thing, but I think we need to insist more. The question which nobody asks, nobody's prepared to ask, is why is there a deficit? Now you know the answer as well as I do. The reason that there's a deficit is that billions of public money was handed over to the banks after the crisis of 2008. Although, according to the received wisdom of the economists, the government was not supposed to play any role in the economy. That was the line, wasn't it? Free market economy. Leave the market alone. Market forces will solve everything. They didn't. Market forces, of course, the disaster which the whole world has been plunged into, with terrible consequences. And therefore on that road, no solution is possible. And instead of handing out billions of public money to the bankers and capitalists, what is necessary is to expropriate the bankers and capitalists. And then, of course, we can plan the economy. Incidentally, the argument that we have to pay for this is nonsense. I think you yourself said, that Jeremy himself has said, that we must take back the public utilities without compensation, and that's talking. That's serious talking. And that's absolutely correct. These parasites have already, these acid strippers, have already looted the British people, looted the British economy, stormed the wealth of millions of people, cheated people, like these monstrous electricity bills and the monstrous prices that they charge on the railways and so on. Just to go into the pockets of private investors. This is good. This racket has got a cease. Without compensation, yes, of course. Of course, if they can show that some little old lady has got a couple of shares and needs some state assistance, of course we provide that. But no question of handing over more billions to these parasites and acid strippers. No, no, no, no. Only by those means, by taking the banks and the big industries and the big businesses and the big supermarkets into public ownership, by the way, and the democratic workers control, we are not in favour of bureaucratic nationalisation, the caricature that was carried out by Labour governments in the past, but genuine socialist nationalisation in which the indices will be run, as Klaus 4 pointed out, will be run by the workers themselves. Now, that's the only real basis on which Britain can get out of the crisis and begin to plan the economy and to run the productive forces in a way that benefits the millions of ordinary people of workers. Yes, of middle-class people also. Of small farmers, small business people, unemployed women, youth and so on and so forth. To run and organise and plan the economy in the interest of the majority in the interest of the millions of ordinary people and not, as is the case today, in the interest of a tiny handful of non-productive parasitic superwitch elements. That's the fundamental problem facing the Labour Party and that's the problem which, we must grasp. On that basis, we can succeed in transforming Britain into the kind of place which Jeremy Corbyn and other people have put forward correctly as the general aim, the true aim which Labour and the working class aspire to. I say thank you to everyone for all their support, friendship and comradeship during this election process. And I say thank you in advance to us all working together to achieve great victories not just electorally for Labour but emotionally for the whole of our society to show we don't have to be unequal it doesn't have to be unfair poverty isn't inevitable things can and they will change. Thank you very much.