Labour Affairs is pleased to publish extracts from the April newsletter of the Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW) to give our readers an insight into the developing positions of this new left wing party in Germany. It is a breakaway from the ‘woke’ and war supporting left party Die Linke and is already outpacing them in the polls. At the beginning of April, the Social Democrats were polling at 16%, the Greens at 12%, the BSW at 6% and Die Linke at 3%. The liberal FDP stood at 4%. On the other hand the rightwing parties, the CDU/CSU and the Alternativ für Deutschland (AfD) stood at 31% and 18% respectively (Source Statista: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1257178/voting-intention-in-germany/)

In many ways the AfD and the BSW are rivals, both drawing on a working class base. However, the BSW has a working class oriented economic policy while the AfD sticks to neoliberalism. A key issue will be whether the BSW can attract working class voters worried about cultural nihilism, unrestricted migration and economically destructive greenery away from the AfD on the grounds of working class oriented economic and social policies. We shall have to wait and see. The danger for Germany is that even with a surge in support for the AfD and BSW, the ‘traffic light coalition’ will form a bloc with the conservative CDU/CSU to marginalise the dissidents. Unfortunately, this is a strong possibility.

Here are the extracts from the April BSW newsletters, written by Sahra Wagenknecht.

CULTURAL AND SOCIAL ISSUES.

Against cancel culture

I consider it a threat to freedom of opinion and academic freedom when a renowned Jewish US philosopher like Prof Fraser is disinvited from a German university because of her critical stance on Israeli politics – especially as this is just the tip of the iceberg. What I find even worse, however, is that the President of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution is of the opinion that “freedom of opinion is not a carte blanche” and that his agency must also take care of expressions of opinion that are not punishable by law and are incompatible with our democratic constitution. Democracy needs diversity of opinion and an open culture of debate, not an intrusive cancellation culture and opinion snooping! With this in mind, I also welcome the manifesto for a new public service broadcaster, in which employees of ARD, ZDF and Deutschlandradio call for more diversity of opinion and information. 

On a proposed gender self-identification law.

No to this misogynistic law that only serves the pharmaceutical lobby

Ideology triumphs over reality in the traffic light coalition (Social Democrats, Greens, Free Democrats). If men can declare themselves women simply by speaking, women’s rights and women’s shelters will soon be a thing of the past. Instead of cautiously reforming the legal situation, which would have been sensible, the traffic light coalition passes a misogynistic law that turns parents and children into guinea pigs for an ideology that only benefits the pharmaceutical industry. 

SOCIAL POLICY.

The economy is shrinking, poverty and crime are on the rise

Violence, burglary, theft – with almost 6 million offences, crime in Germany is higher than it has been for a long time. The German economy is shrinking, poverty and crime are on the rise. All of this is poison for our country. In my press statement for the BSW Group in the Bundestag, I talk about the disastrous record of Interior Minister Faeser, which is reflected in the crime statistics, and why we need an action plan and a summit of interior ministers in the Chancellery to combat the increase in violence and uncontrolled migration.

Coalition policy exacerbates housing shortage

More than 9.5 million people in Germany now have to live in cramped conditions in overcrowded flats – that’s more than one in ten! Although the coalition promised the opposite, the number of completed flats and the amount of social housing continues to fall. This total failure in housing policy must finally stop! Chancellor Scholz should sack Construction Minister Geywitz and finally ensure affordable housing – including with non-profit housing construction and a hard rent cap. 

We need monitoring for integration.

Integration can only succeed if people are not permanently dependent on social benefits but find work. The fact that the federal government is simply unaware of how many of those who have arrived in the country since 2015 are now in employment is unacceptable and irresponsible towards the federal states, which, together with local authorities and citizens, have to pay for uncontrolled migration. We need better monitoring for the integration of refugees, not a Minister of Labour who acts according to the motto: “Close your eyes and get on with it”. 

POLICY ON THE EU.

The EU must once again become a force for peace. We demand more diplomacy instead of weapons, freedom of expression instead of censorship and cancel culture, more democracy instead of lobbying power and a policy of economic reason and social justice instead of sanctions and bureaucratic madness. We want a sovereign and independent Europe that invests in public infrastructure instead of being an engine for privatization and profiteering. Our candidates for the EU Parliament stand for competence and incorruptibility, for the fight against financial crime and lobbyism – this also distinguishes us from other parties. However, the European elections are not just about the EU, they are also about finally creating an alternative in Germany. A vote for the BSW on June 9 is a first step towards voting out the traffic light coalition and for a political change of course that our country so badly needs. 

ECONOMY

EU should withdraw the ban on combustion engines 

The ban on combustion engines is a serious economic policy mistake that will destroy a key industry and a great deal of prosperity in Germany. The fact that the EU has endorsed the ban on combustion engines for 2035 and thus paved the way for the triumphant advance of Chinese battery cars in Europe exemplifies the overreach and incompetence of the current EU institutions. In the European election campaign, the BSW will demand the reversal of these decisions and more research into more fuel-efficient combustion engines. The continued production of fuel-efficient cars could protect the domestic industry with its unique expertise and hundreds of thousands of well-paid jobs. This would also make sense in terms of climate policy, as combustion engines will continue to exist worldwide for a long time to come, and whether battery cars are really the more environmentally friendly alternative is at least questionable.

End the traffic light spook – the sooner the better!

No previous federal government has damaged the economy, our prosperity and job security as profoundly as this one. Now the FDP is also calling for an “acceleration of the economic turnaround”, which would lead our country even faster into decline. However, we do not need pension cuts for employees who have worked all their lives, but a referendum on a pension fund for all and higher pensions! And as far as the FDP’s call for a reduction in bureaucracy is concerned, the truth is that bureaucracy costs have exploded under the Coalition government. In my press statement for the BSW Group in the Bundestag, I talk about the broken marriage of the traffic light system and why new elections are needed – the sooner the better.

WAR.

Ukraine

For two years, we have been told that Ukraine can win the war if only enough weapons are supplied – but despite all the supplies, Ukraine’s negotiating position has continued to deteriorate. We are told that it is impossible to negotiate with Putin – even though there were already advanced negotiations on a ceasefire in spring 2022. Now, at the start of the EU summit yesterday, Chancellor Scholz called for more arms deliveries to Kiev. SPD leader Klingbeil also wants to further increase German aid to Ukraine and says that we need to supply sufficient weapons over the next ten years. I ask myself: how much longer is this madness supposed to go on? And how blind to reality are the Greens, who think German energy prices are low and German economic policy is excellent? On Maischberger (a national talk show), I discuss the need to end the war in Ukraine through negotiations and to put an end to an economic and energy policy that is ruining our industry and our prosperity.

The guns must fall silent

“The guns must fall silent. If possible, there should be a UN-supervised referendum in the occupied territories in which the people themselves decide which state they want to belong to.” In my interview with t-online, I talk about the BSW’s ability to govern, left-wing conservatism and the ideology-driven politics of the traffic light coalition, and why a change in the West’s strategy in the Ukraine war is long overdue and why we need to use negotiation options. 

We need to escape from the logic of militarism.

Never before has the world spent so much money on the military, and in hardly any other country is military spending increasing as rapidly as in Germany. Instead of paying attention to civilian industry, Economics Minister Habeck wants to further increase arms production. I find this course disastrous. Without a return to a policy of détente and a sensible foreign trade policy, our country will decline, prosperity and jobs will be destroyed and social conflicts will be exacerbated. In this podcast with Table.Briefings, I explain why I reject further arms deliveries to Ukraine and what alternatives I see to persuade Russia to agree to a ceasefire.