Europe

This latest of Ken Loach’s films is well crafted and well thought. It has been thoroughly researched and really gets under the surface of the processes and the events that helped shape the current situation on the island of Ireland.

This latest of Ken Loach’s films is well crafted and well thought. It has been thoroughly researched and really gets under the surface of the processes and the events that helped shape the current situation on the island of Ireland.

The recent referendum in Montenegro produced a majority for separation from Serbia, but this small country remains seriously divided. In reality there is no “independence”, but a small nation prey to the whims of imperialism.

The strength of the Greek student movement has been truly amazing in these recent weeks. It forced even the conservative bureaucracy of the trade unions to organise a solidarity strike with the students. In the mass assemblies the students concluded that there should now be a pause and the movement should prepare to remobilise in September.

The Scottish Socialist Party is being torn apart by an internal wrangle that was sparked off back in 2004 by a dispute between its leading figure, Tommy Sheridan, and the News of the Worldnewspaper about his personal life. All genuine socialists back the SSP against attacks by the state, but questions need to be asked of why the party has reached this sorry state.

On June 18, a referendum was held in Catalonia (Spain) on the new Estatut.A big majority voted “yes” but the level of abstention was very high, with only 49.5% turning out on the day. Abstention was particularly high in the working class areas. The massive “yes” vote was more a vote againstthe right-wing PP than an enthusiastic vote for the Estatut itself.

This weekend (24-25 June) over 100 activists gathered from all over Ukraine, as well as from Russia and Moldova, to discuss the way forward for the left in Ukraine. The conference was organized by the editorial boards of the website Communist.ru (and its paper Protiv Techeniya, Against the stream) and the youth site Contr.info and the youth organization Che Guevara.

The visit of George W. Bush to Vienna for the EU-US-summit is over. The Austrian police forces were given a great opportunity to test their "emergency procedures" under the guidance of the CIA while thousands of people demonstrated against Bush and the imperialist policies he stands for.

Peugeot is planning to move production from its Coventry plant in the UK to Slovakia. There labour costs are one quarter of what they are in the UK. Capitalists have no concern for their workers. They go where they can maximise profits. The only answer is nationalisation under workers’ control.

A recent hunger strike of Afghani refugees threatened with repatriation from Norway has highlighted the imperialist interests of this Scandinavian country. Could repatriation have anything to do with the fact that Norway has taken part in the bombing of Afghanistan?

“We urge all republicans to turn towards the working class movements, get active in the unions, and raise issues that while relevant to the immediate interests of working also form a bridge towards more radical and revolutionary demands.” We reproduce the editorial from the latest e-mail newsletter The Plough (Volume 3, Number 25, 14 June 2006) of the IRSP. We have their kind permission to reproduce it.

Greece is being rocked by the biggest student mobilisations for more than 20 years. Faculties have been occupied all over the country and the movement is instinctively turning to the workers for help, calling on the unions to organise a general strike.

The number of people diagnosed with asbestos related diseases has been growing. This reveals the widespread use of this extremely toxic substance, which was not only used in industry but is present in many buildings today. Claims for compensation cost. That is why insurance companies have been lobbying – successfully – to get the laws changed in order to reduce payouts.

Despite the almost incessant rainfall Britain is officially in a drought. There can be no doubt that climate change is contributing to changing weather patterns to adversely affect our water supply. This is a foretaste of what conditions will be like here in the not too distant future if something is not done to halt and reverse the destruction of our environment on a global scale.

After the historical meeting at the Arena cultural centre in Vienna, Venezuela President Hugo Chavez was once again the main attraction, this time at the closing meeting of the Alternative Forum in Austria. Chavez, who took the opportunity to expand upon some of the ideas he presented at the Arena, was joined on the platform by Carlos Lage, the Vice President of Cuba, and Evo Morales, amongst others.

On May 7, the Greek Hands Off Venezuela! committee, together with the German group Network Cuba and the Marxist journal Marxistiki Foni, organised an important seminar on the Bolivarian Revolution. Close to 300 people turned up making the event an important step in strengthening solidarity work in Greece.

Labour suffered a heavy defeat in England's local council elections, but Blair is desperately clinging on to office for now. In an attempt to cover up Labour's losses and to shore up his support Blair quickly moved to sack several high ranking ministers and promote loyal supporters. What Blair has installed is a Final Days administration. It is a bunker cabinet. Blair is finished and so is Blairism. These elections illustrate a growing class polarisation taking place in British society.

In Blackpool over the May Day Bank holiday, the British shop workers’ union USDAW, representing some 330,000 workers, passed a resolution unanimously supporting the Venezuelan Revolution and affiliating to the Hands Off Venezuela Campaign.