Europe

Brown has replaced Blair as leader of the Labour Party and Prime Minister, but has anything fundamental changed? Absolutely not! And yet behind this seemingly uneventful change lies the manoeuvre to stop John McDonnell to stand for the leadership. All the indications were that John would have made a good showing. Something is stirring in the British labour movement.

As the Middle East descends deeper into a vicious cycle of death and destruction, the Reverend Blair has stepped once again onto the world stage as international “envoy for the Middle East”. Blair has the strong backing of the US President George W. Bush. In other words, Blair will bend the knee as always to US imperialism and its interests.

Some disturbing events have been taking place in the south of Ireland, where two IRSP members have been arrested and are being held under the notorious “section 30”. This is clearly a case of political victimisation and should be condemned by all socialists.

Earlier this month the German railways were brought to a halt by a paralysing strike. There is a real mood of militancy among German rail workers, but at the top in the trade unions deals are going ahead that envisage the privatisation of the railway network with a generalised worsening of working conditions, lowering of safety levels and so on.

This year marks the 300th anniversary of The Act of Union between Scotland and England. This was accompanied by the merger of the parliaments into one Westminster Parliament. In January 1707, the Scottish parliament voted 110-67 to ratify The Treaty of Union, which became law four months later.

While GDP in Britain is supposed to be the fifth largest in the world, the division of this wealth is extremely unequal. What growth has taken place has mainly been by increased exploitation of workers. The market principle of profit comes before education and health. Yet British capitalism's share of world exports has continually decreased.

As Gerry Ruddy explains, “The issue of the national question in Ireland is at heart a class question. The division of the country into two separate states has encouraged sectarianism, seriously dividing the working class and allowing the continued exploitation of all workers.” This while in the recent period the IRSP in the South of Ireland has come under attack from political policing.

Morala and Carnero, the two trade unionists jailed in Spain, have been released - although they have not been acquitted and have only been granted a conditional release. Despite their ordeal, they remain in good spirits and are prepared to continue the fight for a better world.

This document constitutes an analysis of the deepening social, political and economic crisis of British capitalism. This perspective applies the method of Marxism to these developments, seeking to uncover the trends and processes within, and serves as a guide to action for all those workers and youth who want to struggle for a socialist transformation of society.

The collapse of Stalinism in Eastern Europe created a peculiar political situation, which is not easily understood from outside. Stalinism discredited the very idea of socialism, but what has replaced is a rather crude bourgeois political set up. However, below the surface, things are moving on. In Poland, where right-wing Christian views seem to dominate the scene, a crisis is brewing.

The legislative elections in France, despite giving a clear majority to the right, also marked the electoral recovery of the left. French society is increasingly divided, and the divisions in parliament will be reflected on the streets one way or another.

Written before Gordon Brown emerged as the sole candidate to replace Blair, this article shows where Brown really stands on key issues facing the workers of Britain. His latest budget actually shifted the burden of taxation in such a way that the poor actually pay more.

Thanks to the sabotage of some 300-odd members of the Parliamentary Labour Party, ordinary Labour Party members and affiliates, who were expecting a leadership election, ended up with no election and a “one member, no vote” imposed candidate. The task now is to strengthen the left in preparation for future battles.

In spite of its social and economic policies – and the corruption scandals - the ruling Fianna Fáil party held its ground in the recent Irish elections. This can be understood on the basis of the prolonged economic boom and the lack of a credible genuine left alternative.

The heads of government of the G8 are meeting in Heiligendamm in Germany. But they are being heavily protected from the harsh social realities that have emerged in Germany. Thousands of protestors are also there. Significantly, there are several important strikes that have affected life in Germany. This may also explain “police tactics” that seemed designed to provoke violent conflict, rather than play it down.

On hearing of the proposed expulsions from the SUF in Denmark, Claudio Bellotti, a member of the National Executive of Rifondazione Comunista in Italy, wrote to the leaders of the SUF calling on them to guarantee a democratic procedure and abandon bureaucratic methods.