2017
22 December 2017 · · Labour Party
The party transformed?
2017 has been a remarkable year from Labour under Jeremy Corbyn, writes Susan Moore . Labour did so much better in the general election than anyone, including Labour activists, expected – im…
19 December 2017 · Israel, Palestine, USA · 2 comments
When tragedy ends as farce...
Watching world leaders’ response to Trump’s declaration that Jerusalem was the capital of Israel on the basis that it was simply acknowledging reality would have been humorous if the situati…
19 December 2017 · Culture
Radical holiday fiction
Holiday and travel reading for Marxists (with links to the Hive site so you can see the details of these books and then track them down yourself – and earn money for your favourite local hig…
16 December 2017 · · Ecosocialism, Labour Party, Uncategorized · 1 comment
Corbyn to make politicians pensions greener
This week, Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn and Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell signed the pledge for the Fossil Free UK campaign to Divest Parliament , writes Joe Walsh The Parliamentary …
14 December 2017 · Women
A feminism for the 21st century
In July 2017 Alison Treacher attended a women’s seminar organised by the Fourth International at the Institute for Research and Education in Amsterdam. Representatives from 28 countries disc…
13 December 2017 · · Britain, EU, Labour Party, Tories
May and EU staring down barrel of a Corbyn government
To say that last week was a remarkable week in politics does not do it justice, writes Alan Thornett. Theresa May travelled to Brussels at the start of the week to try to persuade Michel Bar…
12 December 2017 · Housing, Scotland
Socialists lead direct action on housing crisis in Glasgow
Socialist activists in Scotland have organised a symbolic 24 hour occupation of a major building in the centre of Glasgow, which has been left empty for years while thousands in the city are…
8 December 2017 · · Housing, Labour Party
Haringey Labour steps up the fight against HDV
The wards in both constituency Labour Parties in the London Borough of Haringey, Hornsey & Wood Green and Tottenham have selected their candidates for next May's local council elections. The…
30 November 2017 · · Bosnia · 1 comment
Ratko Mladic – war criminal
The suicide on 29 November 2017 of former Bosnian Croat general Slobodan Praljak after he failed to get his conviction for war crimes overturned has slightly overshadowed the conviction last…
27 November 2017 · Britain, Economics
The Great ‘Productivity’ Puzzle – or the Real Reasons for Britain’s Slump Economics
Would you believe it, asks Phil Hearse ? Just when Theresa May was about to deliver on her October 2016 promise of a more equal society in the sunny uplands of Brexit Britain, along comes th…
22 November 2017 · · Women · 1 comment
Sexual harassment on the left
Sexual harassment of women is pervasive in society writes Andy Stowe . The allegations against Harvey Weinstein and a list of men which grows daily are indicative of a much wider problem and…
17 November 2017 · · Obituaries · 1 comment
Obituary: Derek Robinson 1927—2017
by Alan Thornett Derek Robinson has died at the age of 90. He became a major figure in the car industry and in BL in the mid-1970s after he succeeded fellow Communist Party (CP) member Dick …
16 November 2017 · Britain, Israel, Palestine
A century after the Balfour Declaration
On November 15, London Socialist Resistance held a meeting commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration. The speakers were Bernard Regan and Roland Rance both of whom have …
15 November 2017 · students · 1 comment
Free Education Now!
Over the past few years, a quiet but substantial change in attitudes towards tuition fees has taken place. In 2013, the then National Union of Students president Liam Burns warned against th…
14 November 2017 · · Catalonia · 2 comments
Deadlock in Catalonia
The crisis in Catalonia is continuing, writes Dave Kellaway . The Spanish state has imposed the constitutional article 155 which allows the central Spanish state to take over all the regiona…
13 November 2017 · Labour Party, Reviews
1997 - The Future that never happened
1997: The future that never happened by Richard Power Sayeed, published by Zed Books Ltd October 2017, 341 pages reviewed by Tony Traub The author, Richard Power Sayeed, takes a broad sweep …
10 November 2017 · · North Korea, USA · 1 comment
The Korean crisis, geopolitical instability and nuclear proliferation
The United States has gone back on the offensive in East Asia during the Korean crisis; as for China, it has temporarily lost the initiative. US imperialism is far from winning the game, but…
9 November 2017 · · Ecosocialism, Reviews
Green and Red Rules for Radicals
Ian Parker reviews Derek Wall’s new book Elinor Ostrom’s Rules for Radicals , just published by Pluto Press Of the main complaints made against ‘ecosocialist’ politics, attempts to combine R…
8 November 2017 · · Housing
There's no place....
There’s No Place, The American Housing Crisis and What It Means For The UK , by Glynn Robbins published by Red Roof, £10, 230 pages I was very motivated to read and to review this book, writ…
7 November 2017 · · Wales
Welsh Labour rejects One Member One Vote
The Welsh Labour Party Executive has rejected proposals for One Member One Vote in the forthcoming elections for Leader and Deputy Leader of the Labour Party in Wales. This decision has been…
6 November 2017 · · Ecosocialism
Support the protests at COP 23
The 23 rd UN global climate summit, known as COP 23, opens today in Bonn Germany and runs for two weeks until November 17 , writes Alan Davies. Already thousands have protested in Bonn deman…
6 November 2017 · · Women, Youth
‘This is not about sex, but about power’
What is it that has happened to open up the huge debate across the media and beyond about sexism? Why has it happened now? It’s been going on for ever yet suddenly everyone is talking and wr…
3 November 2017 · Israel, Middle East, Palestine, antisemitism
Palestinians still paying for European antisemitism
The hundredth anniversary of the Balfour Declaration, by which Britain promised the land of Palestine, over the heads of its Arab inhabitants, to Jews fleeing European racism and pogroms, ha…
2 November 2017 · Morocco
Morocco: free the Hirak political prisoners
The death of Mohcine Fikri - a fish vendor crushed in a garbage truck on October, 28 th , 2016 while trying to retrieve his confiscated merchandise in Al Hoceima - has paved the way for the …
29 October 2017 · Labour Party
Antizionism does not equal antisemitism - defend Moshé Machover
Update : Following the huge display of support for Moshé Machover, with dozens of motions passed in CLPs and branches and an open letter to Jeremy Corbyn signed by more than 1300 Labour Part…
25 October 2017 · China
China: Modernisation by a pre-modern bureaucracy?
The 19th Congress of the CPC An Interview with Au Loong Yu What is the significance of the 19th Congress of the CPC? Headines have focused on the way the Congress shows that Xi Jinping is fu…
24 October 2017 · Climate Change, Ecosocialism, Labour Party
Young Labour supports fossil fuel disinvestment
Young Labour are calling for action on the climate crisis after a motion was passed at the National Youth Policy Conference 2017 over the weekend of October 14-15 reports Joe Walsh . It will…
23 October 2017 · Reviews · 1 comment
Three cheers for The Death of Stalin
Andy Stowe is impressed by Armando Iannucci’s new film, The Death of Stalin. In 1956 Nikita Kruschchev, First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) addressed the party’…
22 October 2017 · · USA
Steve Bannon on the road to far right dominance
Phil Hearse examines Steve Bannon's recent speech in which he explains how the hard right in the United States can stay in power “for 50 or 75 years”. Steve Bannon’s October 20 speech to Cal…
21 October 2017 · · Britain, Ireland, Labour Party, Tories · 4 comments
Labour for Irish Unity
At a packed fringe meeting at the recent Labour Party Conference a new campaigning organisation, ‘Labour for Irish Unity’ was launched. The headline speaker was Ken Loach whose prize-winning…
20 October 2017 · Reviews · 1 comment
Žižek vs Lenin, again
Ian Parker takes a look at ‘Lenin 2017: Remembering, Repeating and Working Through’ by VI Lenin and S Žižek (Verso, 2017) This book brings together some articles, letters and speeches by Vla…
19 October 2017 · · NHS
Storm warning for the NHS
It was difficult to miss the early warnings to people in the vulnerable areas that Hurricane Ophelia was headed for Britain and Ireland. The storm signals were taken seriously, writes John L…
18 October 2017 · Catalonia, Scotland · 1 comment
Catalan Defence Committee Scotland launched
Following a series of successful demonstrations called by the Radical Indepence Campaign and others and meetings by left wing groups such as the Scottish Socialist Party and RISE, a Catalan …
17 October 2017 · students · 1 comment
March for Free Education on Nov 15
The Prime Minister recently announced plans to reduce university tuition fees to £7,500 per year, and to raise the repayment threshold on student loans to £25,000. This compromise follows se…
16 October 2017 · China, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, USA
Statement on the Korean crisis
This statement was adopted by the Executive Bureau of the Fourth International on 15 October 2017. I. Before the outbreak of the present Korean crisis, political and military tensions were a…
12 October 2017 · Kurdish struggle
Kurdistan: the referendum and the threats to independence
Joseph Daher writes about the threats that faces Iraq Kurdish independence from outside and the contradictions from within Kurdistan itself. Joseph Daher is the author of the book “Hezbollah…
10 October 2017 · Catalonia, Scotland
Glasgow Solidarity with Catalonia!
Several hundred people gathered at short notice to support Catalonia in Glasgow's George Square on Monday 9th October. They marched to the symbol of solidarity from the people of Glasgow to …
10 October 2017 · · Eastern Europe, Reviews
A Journey into Eastern Europe’s Broken Dreams
Tony Traub reviews Aftershock - A Journey into Eastern Europe’s Broken Dreams by John Feffer, 573 pp, published by Zed Books, November 2017 The book was written by American journalist and no…
6 October 2017 · Catalonia
Let us support the struggle of the Catalan people
After the referendum held on 1 October in Catalonia and the victory of Yes in favour of the independence of Catalonia, despite the great legal, judicial and police difficulties imposed by th…
5 October 2017 · · Labour Party
Transforming Labour
It’s difficult to convey the exhilaration felt by those present at Labour Party conference 2017; #Lab17. Some of the electric atmosphere seems to have reached those following through the med…
2 October 2017 · Kurdish struggle, Obituaries
Mehmet Aksoy: an inspiration to new generations
We send our heartfelt condolences and solidarity to the family and friends of Mehmet Aksoy, killed on Tuesday 26 September in an attack by ISIS on the camp near Raqqa where he was working as…
2 October 2017 · Catalonia, Scotland, Spanish State
Scots stand with Catalonia
Over 1,000 demonstrators from across Scotland braved heavy outbursts of rain to march through the streets of Edinburgh in solidarity with the right of self determination for the people of Ca…
24 September 2017 · Britain, Labour Party, Tories, trade unions
Manchester – protest at the Tory conference
When the Tories gather for their conference in Manchester on Sunday 1 October, they will be greeted in the city by a demonstration marching behind the banner of “No More Austerity - Scrap Th…
22 September 2017 · Catalonia, Scotland
Scotland in solidarity with Catalonia!
Over 100 people attended an emergency rally in Glasgow in solidarity with Catalonia, called at only a few hours' notice . The rally took place on the evening of Thursday 21st September on th…
21 September 2017 · Labour Party, Women
Democratise Labour Women's conference
Labour Women’s conference takes place in Brighton on Saturday September 23. But the conference will consider no resolutions and has no mechanism to impact on the main conference which will s…
18 September 2017 · · Black struggles, Fourth international, Our History, Reviews
CLR James film feast
Ian Parker reviews Every Cook Can Govern: The Life, Impact and Works of C.L.R. James This film was released in April last year, and has been doing the rounds in meetings organised by differe…
17 September 2017 · Britain, EU
Brexit crisis for the Tories
The Tory party is in crisis over what sort of Brexit to pursue. It is torn between the needs of big business, the xenophobia of its members, and the Hard Brexiteers like Boris Johnson and Ja…
15 September 2017 · Israel, Labour Party, Palestine
No backsliding on Palestinian rights
Labour’s National Policy Forum is trying to weaken an already inadequate party policy on Palestine explains Ariel Pardess Jeremy Corbyn led the Labour Party into the May general election wit…
12 September 2017 · · NHS, trade unions
Bart’s strike – a small strike with big implications
The strike by ancillary hospital workers at Bart’s Health Trust which started in July has been a hard struggle against their employer SERCO, writes Susan Pashkoff, Chair of East London Unite…
11 September 2017 · Ireland, Reviews
To Hell with Charity
Struggle or Starve: Working-Class Unity in Belfast’s 1932 Outdoor Relief Riots by Seán Mitchell. Published by Haymarket Books. Does intense class conflict with bosses, cops and government ne…
8 September 2017 · Ecosocialism
UN report shows climate change key factor in oppression of the poor
Lies, damn lies and statistics, right? Well not always - sometimes statistics dramatise social reality is a graphic way argues Phil Hearse . A year before the devastating floods in India, Ba…
6 September 2017 · · Azerbaijan, South Africa
This the way the world works: Azerbaijan and Bell Pottinger
Stories hitting the British papers yesterday give a graphic insight into the way that neoliberal capitalism really works, writes Phil Hearse . And how British finance and public relations co…
6 September 2017 · trade unions · 1 comment
The Birmingham Bin Strike
In Birmingham, rubbish lies uncollected in streets and in homes at the end of the summer, creating a health risk, attracting rats and creating a fire hazard, reports James Wright . Long queu…
3 September 2017 · trade unions
McDonald’s – strike moves protests inside fast food giant
Everyone has witnessed demonstrations involving young people targeting the fast food chain McDonald’s; blocking doors and/or breaking glass windows. The company, one of the most recognized a…
31 August 2017 · · Reviews · 1 comment
Words – weapons or straightjackets?
Dave Kellaway reviews Ian Parker’s ‘Revolutionary Keywords for a New Left’ (Zero Books, 2017} “It is that very familiarity with the same old language of the left, however, that is now part o…
29 August 2017 · Labour Party, antisemitism · 2 comments
Jewish Voice for Labour launched
As awareness of, and hostility to, the racism and war crimes of the Israeli state continue to grow, the state and its Zionist apologists respond ever-more desperately. Since they have compre…
20 August 2017 · Fourth international, Russian revolution
On being revolutionaries one hundred years after the Russian Revolution
The 34th International Youth Camp in political solidarity with the Fourth International took place in Otranto, Italy in the last week of July. The camp, under a banner proclaiming "Revolutio…
18 August 2017 · USA
Trump’s new Dr Strangelove plans the unthinkable
Phil Hearse writes about Trump's threat of genocide in North Korea, as US Secretary of Defence, General James ‘Mad Dog’ Mattis puts it: “Kim Jong-un risks the end of his regime and the destr…
17 August 2017 · USA, Uncategorized
Charlottesville Virginia and the failure of legitimisation of the Far Right
The “Unite the Right” demonstration held in Charlottesville Virginia on the 12 th of August was meant to be a turning point for the far right in the US. Using the excuse of the removal of a …
16 August 2017 · Fourth international, Youth
Socialists go to Italy
Josh Berlyne recounts a week of debate, discussion, and delicious Italian tomatoes beneath the summer sun at the 34 th International Youth Camp, organised by the Fourth International. In Jul…
15 August 2017 · South Africa
Political Crisis and the Left in South Africa
The South African Congress held a no-confidence vote to decide whether President Jacob Zuma should step down or not. The result of the vote was: 177 YES, 198 NO, 9 abstentions. This means th…
14 August 2017 · Fourth international, Youth
Another World Is Possible
Nathan Rogers, reports on the 34th International Youth Camp held in Italy. Nathan is a member of Socialist Resistance and was part of the delegation from Britain to the camp. From the 23 rd …
11 August 2017 · · Reviews, Uncategorized
Love is not enough
Andy Stowe reviews Naomi Klein’s new book “ No Is Not Enough ” on Trump’s rise and her plan for defeating him. The first thing that hits you reading this very useful summary of the reasons b…
10 August 2017 · Fourth international · 1 comment
Scotland goes to Italy
At the end of July, 9 activists from the British state – four from Scotland and five living in England – travelled for many hours by bus across the long miles from London to the heel of Ital…
9 August 2017 · North Korea, USA · 2 comments
The last time the US launched 'fire and fury' on North Korea, a third of the population died
Numerous commentators in the US and elsewhere have poured cold water on the idea there could be a short term war, notes Phil Hearse. As the Guardian says: “But despite two unpredictable nucl…
8 August 2017 · Uncategorized
Corbynism arrives in Australia
Greens Senator Lee Rhiannon, the standard bearer for a more radical politics in the Australian Greens, has found herself compared to Jeremy Corbyn but the impact of Corbyn may be more signif…
28 July 2017 · · Our History
Dunkirk – superbly executed nationalist myth making
Addressing the British parliament in June 1940, Winston Churchill described the German rout of the French, Belgian and British armies and the seaborne evacuation of 338 000 troops as a "colo…
27 July 2017 · China
China: Mourn Liu Xiaobo, Free Liu Xia
We are republishing Au Loong Yu 's article from Borderless Hong Kong which unlike the mainstream media in Britain not only tells us about the culpability of the Chinese goverment, but makes …
26 July 2017 · Britain, trade unions · 1 comment
Manchester housing workers strike to defend conditions
Around 170 Unite housing maintenance workers at Mears, and joint venture company Manchester Working Limited (operated by Mears), are currently on strike in Manchester reports Ali Treacher . …
10 July 2017 · Britain, Tories
Trouble in Toryland
Politics in Britain has become very interesting, observes Sara Peterson . Having lived through Blair, Brown, the Con-Dems, Cameron’s Tory Government, there are some seismic shifts in elector…
6 July 2017 · Britain, Housing, Labour Party, trade unions · 1 comment
Step up the noise!
My ears are ringing says Terry Conway In four days I was on two protests when noise has been a central element of the action. Defend the Ritzy workers I spent time last Friday evening as par…
4 July 2017 · Britain, NHS
No birthday present to the NHS from Tories
John Lister, Editor, Health Campaigns Together, explains that Tory plans give NHS workers and users no cause for cheer at the service's Big Birthday Bash on July 5. Theresa May’s weakened bu…
3 July 2017 · · Britain · 5 comments
Another world in sight?
One sign of a good demonstration is the numbers, writes Veronica Fagan . Over 100,000 was what was fed back from the stage of the #Kick out the Tories #Not one Day more march. It certainly w…
2 July 2017 · Housing
Grenfell: the poor sacrificed for developer’s profits
Doug Thorpe from the Radical Housing Network spoke to Penny Duggan for The Anti-capitalist , the newspaper of the NPA in late June. We are happy to reprint it below. Doug is also a member of…
27 June 2017 · Britain
Kick the Tories out – Organise for a Labour government
An extraordinary election campaign saw the biggest swing to Labour since 1945. The result was a triumph, demonstrating a seismic shift in British politics. Now an illegitimate Tory governmen…
27 June 2017 · · Britain, Labour Party · 6 comments
Stop messing about - The Marxist left and Labour
The Socialist, paper of the Socialist Party (SP), estimates that Labour may now have more than 700 000 members writes Andy Stowe . There’s no doubt that the party’s membership has increased …
21 June 2017 · International
Gilbert Achcar on the "Clash of Barbarisms" today
Gilbert Achcar’s book The Clash of Barbarisms: The Making of the New World Disorder (Saqi Books, London, 2006) came out recently in a third French edition. On this occasion, the author wrote…
18 June 2017 · · Britain, Housing, Tories · 5 comments
Grenfell Tower tragedy shows this Tory government is illegitimate
Elizabeth Windsor, the English queen, isn’t supposed to make political statements, but on June 16 th she announced to the world that she thinks Tory Prime Minister Theresa May is a morally g…
17 June 2017 · · students · 1 comment
SOAS says stop outsourcing
Students at the School of Oriental and African Studies, (SOAS) in central London went into occupation on Tuesday June 13 in support of catering workers and facilities at the university. Susa…
13 June 2017 · France
French general election – Neo-liberal centrist Macron gets expected endorsement
General elections in France are considered to be the third round of the presidential election and normally they deliver whacking majorities for the president, argues Dave Kellaway .. Sunday’…
11 June 2017 · · Ireland, Tories · 1 comment
Why is the DUP so reactionary?
The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) has attracted a lot of opprobrium for its reactionary positions on every subject you can think of and for their ongoing links with loyalist terrorists wri…
9 June 2017 · · Labour Party · 7 comments
A stunning result for Corbyn and Labour
Alan Davies argues: The election result is a triumph for Labour. Although the party has fallen marginally short of enough seats to form a government, Jeremy Corbyn has pulled off the biggest…
1 June 2017 · Labour Party
All to play for!
This is the most remarkable election campaign in living memory, argues Veronica Fagan. Labour under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership has dramatically narrowed the Tory lead. Yesterday The Guardian…
31 May 2017 · Education · 1 comment
Vote for Education on June 8
It’s not hard to see why education is an issue in this general election. Socialist Resistance asked NUT activist Jon Duveen to explain what is happening. After seven years of Tory coalition …
30 May 2017 · Labour Party
More than voting now!
Ian Parker is on the doorstep with Labour. These are the last days, a countdown to 8 June, and to a vote that will set the course for more austerity, more privatisation and a crackdown on ci…
30 May 2017 · Belgium, USA
Trump not welcome, and neither is NATO
Twelve thousand people took part in a demonstration in Brussels against Trump and the world that he stands for and against NATO on 24 May, reports Thomas Weyts As expected and hoped it was a…
26 May 2017 · Turkey
Turkey, post-referendum
The referendum vote on April 2017 approved the proposed constitutional amendments put forward by the ruling Justice and Development Party (JDP) and President Erdogan, moving Turkey from a pa…
25 May 2017 · Reviews · 1 comment
October by China Mieville - a review
October: The Story of the Russian Revolution, by China Mieville Verso, May 2017, £18.99. To commemorate 1917, Verso has delivered a brilliant piece of commissioning : a fantasy fiction novel…
23 May 2017 · Britain
A murderous attack on women and girls in Manchester
Don't need permission Made my decision to test my limits 'Cause it's my business, God as my witness Start what I finished Don't need no hold up Taking control of this kind of moment I'm lock…
22 May 2017 · Education, Scotland, trade unions
Scottish College Lecturers Celebrate Strike Victory
Hundreds of Scottish college lecturers braved torrential rain to rally in Glasgow on Saturday 20 th May in celebration of their strike victory, reports Donald Milligan. Workers, students and…
18 May 2017 · Britain, Labour Party · 2 comments
For a Labour victory on June 8
Labour’s election manifesto launch has boosted Corbyn’s campaign, which has been drawing thousands to rallies across the country. Debate has shifted to a new level, replacing endless ridicul…
17 May 2017 · · NHS
Labour's giant step forward on health
John Lister reports: The huge demonstration #ourNHS demonstration through London on March 4, called by Health Campaigns Together, was estimated by police and the media at upwards of 200,000 …
11 May 2017 · Labour Party, Scotland, Tories
Tory threat rises in Scotland
It’s not possible to deal with the local election results in Scotland in the same breath as those in England and Wales, argues Susan Moore. There are some organisational reasons for this to …
9 May 2017 · Labour Party · 2 comments
Local elections – disappointing but not disastrous
Veronica Fagan says that people shouldn’t just take their assessment from the BBC when thinking about the local election results in England and Wales. There is no doubt that the results, wit…
4 May 2017 · Labour Party · 1 comment
Corbyn presents a radical alternative
Jeremy Corbyn has done remarkably well since the general election was called, argues Alan Thornett. He hit the ground running and launched Labour’s campaign with a speech that attacked the r…
2 May 2017 · · Ecosocialism, Reviews
Dead Zone: Where the Wild things were
Alan Thornett reviews Philip Lymbery's important new book from Bloomsbury (2017) Bloomsbury Publishers, who published Elizabeth Kolberts The Sixth Extinction in 2014 has published another im…
30 April 2017 · · Reviews, Russian revolution
This bright life will come
Travelling to the British Library's impressive and unmissable Russian Revolution: Hope, Tragedy, Myths exhibition, I read an article on Putin's government's suppression of the Jehovah's Witn…
29 April 2017 · · Labour Party, Tories · 2 comments
Theresa May - a strong and stable leader?
Dave Kellaway looks at how far Theresa May is from the image she tries to project: Theresa May = Geoffrey Boycott Theresa May confesses that the former English opening batsman, Geoffrey Boyc…
27 April 2017 · Mental Health, Reviews
Mad to be Normal
Ian Parker diagnoses what is wrong with this film: A new film about R D Laing should be something for the left to watch and learn from, about the politics of madness and the connection betwe…
25 April 2017 · France
France: a new era of instability
This Sunday’s results did not come as a surprise. But they mean that after this election things will not be the same. Nicolas V. comments on the situation after the first round of the French…
22 April 2017 · International · 1 comment
Socialists rise to the challenge of Hamburg G20 summit
The G20 summit in Hamburg will mark one of the first occasions on which Donald Trump will visit Europe since he became US President. The first is the NATO summit in Brussels in May. Hamburg …
20 April 2017 · France · 2 comments
Melenchon, the French Chavez?
Dave Kellaway reflects on French Presidential elections too close to call: Shock followed by surprise followed by upset. The French presidential election is yet another expression of the pol…
19 April 2017 · · Labour Party, Tories
General election: Labour must present a radical alternative
by Alan Thornett Theresa May has called a general election for June 8 th hoping that Labour has been sufficiently weakened by the attacks of the right on the Corbyn leadership that she will …
17 April 2017 · International · 1 comment
World Politics after Trump and Brexit
The document below was agreed by Socialist Resistance at its conference over the weekend 7/8 April: The vote in Britain for leaving the European Union and the victory of Donald Trump in the …
15 April 2017 · · North Korea, USA · 1 comment
No to war, Trump and Kim
There are two things rulers typically do when they want to make a mark on the world. They build something big or they go to war writes Andy Stowe . The US Department of Homeland Security has…
14 April 2017 · · Britain, Climate Change, USA
Protesting Trumps threat to the planet
Alan Thornett looks at the destruction Trump is wreaking and the resistance that is growing: There are many reactionary aspects to the Trump administration: racism, misogyny, homophobia, isl…
8 April 2017 · Labour Party, antisemitism · 2 comments
Hero or villain? The Livingstone question
Continuing our discussion on the decision of the Labour Party to continue Ken Livingstone's suspension and the events surrounding it, we are happy to republish David Rosenberg's article belo…
7 April 2017 · Syria, USA · 3 comments
Syria: Trump’s military adventurism under way
Phil Hearse on Trump’s attack on Syria The Assad government’s April 4 chemical weapon attack on the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhoun, which killed more than 100 people, once again demonstra…
6 April 2017 · Britain, Labour Party
A letter to Jeremy about Ken
On Wednesday, Ken Livingstone was suspended from membership for a further year for bringing the party into disrepute for comments he made in the defence of MP Naz Shah on a radio programme. …
5 April 2017 · Green Party
Greens discuss European eco-socialism
Green Party members from across the globe descended on Liverpool’s waterfront conference centre for a joint congress said to be the largest assembly of Greens ever with two thousand members …
4 April 2017 · Latin America, Reviews
The last day of oppression and the first day of the same
The last day of oppression and the first day of the same - the politics and economics of the New Latin American Left by Jeffrey R Webber 2016 (Pluto Press) reviewed by Dave Kellaway A year o…
3 April 2017 · trade unions
Fighting the gig economy
Deliveroo riders in Brighton stepped up their campaign for decent working conditions after taking strike action earlier in the year. They held a mass bike ride around the city, blocking traf…
29 March 2017 · Latin America
Radical politics in Latin America today
On 28th March, 2017, Jeff Webber, the author of The Last Day of Oppression and the First Day of the Same (Pluto Press) spoke at a Socialist Resistance forum in London. Webber described the 4…
28 March 2017 · Labour Party, trade unions · 1 comment
Vote McCluskey in the Unite election
As the ballot papers go out for the Unite General Secretary election, the need to re-elect Len McCluskey, in what is one of the most critical trade union elections in Britain in many years, …
26 March 2017 · Uncategorized · 1 comment
Momentum looks to the future
Brian Standish reports from the March 25th Momentum Conference in Birmingham. It was well attended - probably about 500 people and it was standing room only in the plenary sessions as a good…
25 March 2017 · Britain, EU
Thousands march against racist Brexit
Try and picture what a march of Brexit supporters would look like in central London, asks Andy Stowe. You immediately get images of portly men dressed in John Bull outfits, Farage gurning in…
18 March 2017 · · Combined Authorities, Democracy
Devolution: business dominance against local democracy – the case of the West Midlands Combined Authority
by Richard Hatcher Devolution to Combined Authorities could provide the opportunity for local citizens to have more power over the policies that shape their daily lives. But Combined Authori…
16 March 2017 · · Housing
Housing White Paper measures will only make things worse
Karl Marx wrote that ‘history repeats itself first as tragedy, then as farce’. This sums up the housing White Paper unveiled on 7th February,writes Glyn Robbins. It’s farcical that, less tha…
14 March 2017 · Scotland · 1 comment
Scottish Socialist Party statement on a second independence referendum
The Scottish Socialist Party is committed to Independence. For us it is the way to radically change Scotland, tackling our low wage economy, the affordable housing crisis and shifting power …
12 March 2017 · · Britain, Labour Party · 1 comment
Momentum conferences are like buses
Andy Stowe reports from the first of this month’s Momentum conferences. Momentum describes itself as having “evolved out of Jeremy Corbyn’s 2015 Labour leadership bid to build on the energy …
8 March 2017 · Women
"Women Are At A Breaking Point"
BY ALEXANDRIA NEASON Reprinted from The Village Voice on March 7 where it appeared under the title "Women Are At A Breaking Point" : The International Women's Strike Is Tomorrow Thousands of…
8 March 2017 · Women
Women strike in Britain on International Women’s Day?
Solidarity with our sisters internationally on March 8 2017 – For action in Britain in 2018 A slightly edited version of this letter appears as the lead letter in today's Guardian, signed by…
3 March 2017 · NHS · 1 comment
A historic chance to push back the Tory onslaught
John Lister is director of Health Emergency and editor of Health Campaigns Together newspaper, www.healthcampaignstogether.com He writes here in a personal capacity. The tens of thousands wh…
27 February 2017 · · Britain, Labour Party · 8 comments
Corbynism after Copeland
by Alan Thornett It is to Jeremy Corbyn’s great credit that he has faced down, once again, the usual chorus of demands for him to resign—following Labour’s defeat in the Copeland by-election…
25 February 2017 · Our History, Russian revolution
October 1917: London book launch
Paul Le Blanc at Housmans Bookshop on 24th February 2017 : http://https://youtu.be/za-HzPlESfI Le Blanc, a long term revolutionary Marxist, author and a Professor of History at LaRoche Colle…
24 February 2017 · Reviews
Black, female and hidden from history
Review of Hidden Figures (2017) Directed by Theodore Melfi, starring Taraji P. Henson , Octavia Spencer , Janelle Monáe by Dave Kellaway We go from being our father's daughters, to our husba…
21 February 2017 · EU
Ten Proposals to Beat the European Union
A collective document from across the European left on how to challenge the EU’s stranglehold on economic and social justice. by Various Authors T wo years after Syriza’s election, despite a…
20 February 2017 · Reviews · 2 comments
“Contracts are like hearts, they are made to be broken”
The Founder (2016) directed by John Lee Hancock, starring Micheal Keaton, Laura Dern reviewed by Dave Kellaway “You know what - contracts are like hearts, they are made to be broken.” So say…
16 February 2017 · · Spanish State
Podemos votes against a moderate turn at Vista Alegre II
Dave Kellaway reports: "Las razones por las que nació Podemos no se han moderado, nuestras políticas no se pueden moderar" The reasons for the birth of Podemos have not moderated, so our pol…
14 February 2017 · Fourth international, Youth
International camp for young socialists, environmentalists and feminists
July 23rd - 29th 2017 Do you want to find out more about socialism, feminism and environmentalism? That’s what the Fourth International’s annual youth camp in near Otranto in the south of It…
14 February 2017 · Mental Health · 1 comment
Post-Truth and Paranoia: Action, Reaction and Asylum
Ian Parker discusses the links: The last time round that the world was on the brink of self-destruction, the Marxist psychoanalyst Joel Kovel (and one-time candidate for the US Green Party p…
13 February 2017 · · Reviews
Stalin's artistic counter-revolution
Revolution: Russian Art 1917–1932 - An exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts, London 11 February —17 April 2017 (£16, £12 concessions) It's one of history's ironies writes Andy Stowe that …
11 February 2017 · Middle East, Reviews, Tunisia, Uncategorized
Brothers in power
Return to the Shadows: The Muslim Brotherhood and An-Nahda since the Arab Spring, Saqi, 2016 £16.99 reviewed by Farooq Suleheria The phenomenon of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) is a vital case…
10 February 2017 · · Reviews
How will capitalism end?
Jane Shallice reviews How will capitalism end? by Wolfgang Streek. Published by Verso Books, October 2016, 272 pages image no longer in the archive Which socialist could resist a book with s…
9 February 2017 · Britain, USA
Protesting Trump
Protests against Donald Trump have been mushrooming since his inauguration on January 20 – particularly in the USA itself but also internationally. The reaction here in Britain has been part…
8 February 2017 · students · 1 comment
Students step up the boycott of NSS
Nathan Rogers reports: The National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts is something of an oddity on the student left in Britain. Formed in 2010 by a coalition of socialists, anarchists and indep…
7 February 2017 · EU, Labour Party · 4 comments
No blocking and No hard Brexit – Abstain on Article 50
Below and here we present two positions on what approach Labour should take to article 50 from Socialist Resistance supporters: The vote for Brexit in last year’s referendum and the election…
7 February 2017 · EU, Labour Party · 1 comment
Labour’s conundrum over article 50
Below and here , we present two positions on what approach Labour should take to article 50 from Socialist Resistance supporters : The difficult situation Labour finds itself in over article…
6 February 2017 · International · 2 comments
World Politics after Trump and Brexit
by Socialist Resistance The vote in Britain for leaving the European Union and the victory of Donald Trump in the US presidential election are part of the same process and not coincidental e…
2 February 2017 · · Labour Party, Uncategorized · 2 comments
Corbyn’s relaunch
Susan Moore looks at what the Labour leader has been doing since Christmas: Corbyn’s relaunch since the start of the year has seen him take a more combative and pro-active approach in puttin…
1 February 2017 · Black struggles, Our History, Reviews, USA · 1 comment
A book to whet the appetite
W E Du Bois: Revolutionary across the colour line by Bill V Mullen published by Pluto Press, 2016, £12.99 Reviewed by Veronica Fagan I didn’t know a very much about W.E.B. Du Bois before I p…
26 January 2017 · Russian revolution
Redeeming the Revolution
Doug Enaa Greene reviews October 1917 – Workers in Power. Authors: Paul Le Blanc, Ernest Mandel, David Mandel, François Vercammen, and contemporary texts by Rosa Luxemburg, Lenin, Leon Trots…
24 January 2017 · NHS
NHS in "Humanitarian Crisis"
As support for the demonstration in support of the NHS on March 4 continues to build with seven national trade unions and every national campaign working around the NHS, we reprint Dr Louise…
23 January 2017 · Women
Are we witnessing a moment or a movement?
Susan Pashkoff on the possibility of a new movement arising from the mass protests that took place across the world on January 21. The article was originally written for Left Unity . Having …
17 January 2017 · USA, Women
Trump, the Republican controlled Congress and the War on Women
Below we reproduce a timely article from Susan Pashkoff written for Daily Kos on what women are likely to be facing under the Trump Presidency and how they are resisting. As the inauguration…
11 January 2017 · Britain
Migrants not to blame. Support Free Movement
It’s not immigrants that failed to build the houses our economy needs and they don’t cause a race to the bottom on wages or conditions. Statement published in the Guardian letters page, 10.0…
6 January 2017 · Britain · 1 comment
The sigh of the oppressed creature?
David Landau analyses the rise in racism and xenophobia, and proposes ideas for resistance. Dave is an anti-racist and anti-fascist campaigner and member of No One is Illegal. There is a spe…
3 January 2017 · · Syria · 1 comment
We must understand Syria as a popular struggle despite its complications
Joseph Daher reports: The popular uprising in Syria approaches its sixth year, but the debate among the networks, associations, political parties, and individuals that make up the political …
2 January 2017 · · Reviews, Uncategorized
Why isn't God answering?
Andy Stowe reviews Silence by Martin Scorsese. Any film about Jesuit missionaries that has Ad maiorem Dei gloriam ( f or the greater glory of God), the Catholic order's motto, as the opening…
1 January 2017 · China, Hong Kong
The Black Hole of Conspiracies — Hong Kong Under Beijing’s Factional Fight
Au Loong Yu reports: On 9th December, 2016 C.Y. Leung, the Chief Executive (CE) of Hong Kong, announced that he will not run for CE again after he completes his term next March. His excuse t…