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Current Events
For more news and analysis from the United Kingdom and Ireland, visit the
Socialist Appealwebsite!
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RESPECT
– a “new” alternative to New Labour?
With the media frenzy over tuition fees and the Hutton report, you can be
forgiven for not noticing the launch in the same week of a new British political
party called simply RESPECT. The launching of RESPECT, also known as the Unity Coalition, was the brainchild
of a layer of people disillusioned with Blair who wanted to form a left
alternative to New Labour. By Rob Sewell
(February, 2004)
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Blair
U-turn on "Red Ken"
The decision to readmit London Mayor Ken Livingstone back into the Labour Party has came as
no surprise to anybody. A third Labour victory at the next general election is no longer the certainty
many once though it was. Only through a socialist programme alongside a fighting
leadership, rather than the pro-big business bunch we have at present, can a
Labour victory be assured and the hopes of the Tories and the rest be ground to
dust. By Steve Jones (February, 2004)
15,000 March in Glasgow!
Following on from the successful anti-war demo in London protesters came from all over Scotland to Glasgow to protest against the coming war in Iraq on Saturday 19 October. Three marches from different parts of the city converged on George Square where we then walked round the city centre with the usual chants including “Who let the bombs out? Bush, Bush and Blair”, “George Bush we know you, daddy was a killer too!” and “No justice, no peace”. There was also a short sit down before returning for speeches by John MaCallion, a Labour MSP, and … Anwar, a Labour MP from Glasgow, as well as by representatives from the Palestinian Solidarity campaign, CND and Tommy Sheridan. A common pattern in speeches was to point out the hypocrisy in attacking Iraq for not fulfilling UN resolutions but not Israel and for having weapons of mass destruction which other states have without being threatened over them.
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The Class Struggle Within Football
Who would have thought that the 'game' which involved 20 or 30 burly drunken men chasing and kicking an inflated pigs bladder around the streets at the turn of the 18th century would turn out to be the multi-billion pound business that we know it as today. The crude raw material of the game was found in the fields and streets, among farm boys and apprentices - a folk game and a spontaneous growth. It belonged to the people; in the eyes of authority and the well bred, it was a vulgar, rowdy pastime. (by Igor, a young YFISer in Scotland)
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Irish Peace Process on the Rocks
The Irish peace process is mired in crisis. Despite all the fanfare accompanying the Good Friday Agreement, the people in the Six Counties of the north once again find themselves at an impasse.(by Phil Mitchinson, London, September, 2001)
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Foot and mouth - a disease of the profit system
Over the past weeks the news has been dominated by the story of yet another crisis in farming. Appalling pictures of funeral pyres of animal victims of the foot and mouth outbreak have even made the front page of stateside-based 'Time' magazine. What is going on? By Mick Brooks. (March 13th, 2001)
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The Political Situation of the Youth in the West
It is clear that there is a rising tide of activism across the planet. From Seattle to Prague, the new protest movement signifies the begining of
a broader movement of the masses. But how can we harness this energy and enthusiasm in order to transform the world? Tom Rollings from the UK
explains how Marxists can intervene in these movements in order to build a revolutionary alternative to capitalism. (October, 2000)
The Petrol Strike Brings Britain to a Standstill - Militancy Pays
What an answer to all the cynics. In a matter of days a magnificent and largely
spontaneous movement of truck drivers, farmers and cabbies has brought large parts of the
country to a virtual standstill. This movement represents the biggest national unofficial
strike action seen in Britain for decades. (September 13, 2000)
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Horror of Britain's immigration controls
The horrific deaths of 58 Chinese migrants found in Dover, revealed to the world the monstrous effects of Britain's immigration regime. By making it virtually impossible for refugees and migrants to enter this country legally, many thousands every year seek to come here illegally. Jack Straw was quick to place the blame on Chinese smuggling gangs called the Snake Head. Thinking people can see through this. Heiko Khoo, Chinese for Labour (personal capacity) (July 28, 2000)
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Northern Ireland - Sectarian Impasse
As the Good Friday Agreement stumbles from one crisis to another, hopes have been raised that the new "concessions" given by the provisional IRA on weapons will be sufficient to draw the Unionists into another power sharing executive and assembly with Sinn Fein. By Michael Sweeney. (May 23, 2000)
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Ireland - Back to Square One
The suspension of the Northern Ireland Assembly is the latest demonstration of the inability of capitalism to solve the national question in Ireland. Below we look at the reasons for the breakdown in the current talks, the future prospects for the IRA, the unionists, and the possibility of a socialist solution. (February 29, 2000)
- Third Way? No Way!
We hear a lot about the Third Way these days. But does this represent anything new or
is it just the socialdemocrats recognising that there is no longer any room for manouvre?
Barbara Humphries looks at where these ideas come from and what do they really mean.
(October 19, 1999).
- Northern Ireland's
Impasse
Last month, Northern Ireland exploded into violence again. Petrol bombs, blazing
buildings, and RUC brutality against protesters were all in evidence in the wake of the
Apprentice Boys parade in Derry. (September 1, 1999)
- Northern Ireland
Peace Agreement: Can the Deal Work?
The proposals that have emerged from the Northern Ireland peace process have been hailed
as an historic breakthrough. Tony Blair has been lauded with praise for his 'peacemaking'
role. Characters like David Trimble, who led the Orangemen at Drumcree, have received
praise upon praise for their bravery. But what does any of this mean for the working class
people of Ireland who have been subjected to decades of sectarian rule, violence,
intimidation and ruined lives? Can it really bring peace? (May 1998)
- Diana, the Monarchy and the Crisis in
Britain
The dramatic events of the first week of September 1997 mark a sea-change in British
society. The sudden death of the Princess of Wales was the signal of an outburst of
popular feeling which was without precedent in recent British history. Of course, Britain
has seen more than a few royal births, deaths and marriages, duly attended by large crowds
of cheering or silently respectful people. But such a spontaneous eruption as this, such
an overflowing of emotion, such a movement of the masses, unorganised, uncalled-for,
uncontrollable - such a thing has never been seen. It is an entirely new phenomenon,
reflecting an entirely new situation in Britain. Alan Woods (September 10, 1997)
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Labour and Ireland
The election of a Labour Government in Britain has raised enormous expectations, not least
by workers in Northern Ireland who are looking for a way out of the impasse they have
faced for nearly a century. Yet the Labour leadership remain tied to a
"bi-partisan" approach that has solved nothing in the past, and looks set to
present more of the same for the future. In a short series of articles, Cain O'Mahoney
examines labour's role in Northern Ireland and the lessons that must be learnt:
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Historical Analysis
80th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of Great Britain
To commemorate the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Communist party of Britain we publish two articles by Steve Reynolds which explain the struggle of the early pioneers. Rich lessons can be found for the present-day Marxists in the early years of the CPGB and its initial struggle to transform itself into a mass Bolshevik Party.
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The Last Stand of the Levellers
Nowhere is the remoulding of history more apparent than in the history of those revolutionary upsurges where a new ruling class has taken over power or where oppressed common people have taken up arms to destroy their masters. Whole revolutionary movements disappear under the pen of the historian, only to be rediscovered generations later. Lies and truth are entangled so closely that the concept of impartial "historical truth" becomes meaningless. The unsuccessful risings of the peasantry and the working classes are stamped on so viciously and so thoroughly that their spokesmen, even if they survive, are unable to speak in their own defence before the bar of history. By Dudley Edwards.
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The Daubing
of Winston Churchill
Tony Blair, Jack Straw, William Hague and Ann Widdecombe have all expressed
their disgust and outrage at the malicious vandalism meted out to the statue
of Sir Winston Churchill in Parliament Square in London. Rob Sewell looks at who
Churchill was and
his violent hatred of the labor movement. (May 5, 2000)
- 1919: A Land
Fit for Revolution
British Prime Minister Lloyd George promised troops returning from the
carnage of World War One "a land fit for heroes." In place of this utopia they
found a land blighted by unemployment and shortages. Inspired by the end of the war and
the victory of the Russian workers and peasants, the spectre of revolution was taking on
flesh across the continent and Britain was no exception.
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Connolly and the Easter Uprising
This article, written by Ted Grant in 1966, deals with the lessons from the 1916 Easter
Uprising and the role of the great Irish Marxist Connolly. Nowadays all sections of Irish
society in the 26 counties hypocritically give support to the "brave and undying
heroism of Connolly." The Irish capitalists pretend to honour him. Connolly would
have split contemptuously in their faces. He fought them, ever since he attained manhood,
in the interests of the Irish workers and of International Socialism.
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