Europe

On 17 October, well over 500,000 workers and youth poured onto the streets of towns and cities across France to take their latest step forward in the battle to defeat Macron and the French capitalists’ […]

The Albanian masses have been on the streets for almost five months. Protests started in May when it became known that the prime minister, Edi Rama, was more than willing to give away a nature […]

“We’re in a different country now than we were on October 13”. This comment from a leading trade unionist and Militant Left member sums up the seismic impact of Wednesday’s public sector general strike in […]

Workers and Youth Unite to Fight for a Socialist Future The CWI supports the youth strikes and mobilisations on 20 November called for by the International Youth Walkout Against War. Events are confirming the timeliness […]

The Yrkestrafikkforbundet (YTF), which represents postal workers in Norway, warns: “We fear that up to 2,000 mail carriers could lose their jobs if the government’s postal cuts are implemented.” This would represent a huge further […]

Today sees hundreds of thousands of public sector workers taking strike action across the Republic of Ireland in the greatest display of workers’ industrial action for many years. Below is the text of a Militant […]

The renewed attempt by the Orange Order to march down Garvaghy Road, at Portadown, Co Armagh, Northern Ireland, reopened one of the most bitter disputes of the 1990s in the north. Following nearly two weeks […]

The school students’ mobilisation, which began in Val-de-Marne more than 15 days ago, reached a new stage after the public sector strike on 29 September. 338 high schools were blockaded on 29 September, and more […]

The wave of school student protests across France has highlighted the deep crisis facing public education and the wider social conditions confronting working‑class youth. In dozens of towns and cities, students have walked out, blockaded […]

The brutal eviction of the 87-year old disabled woman, María del Carmen Abascal, known as “Maricarmen”, who had been living in her Madrid flat for 71 years, sparked fury across Spain. She was carried out […]

Twenty eight years after the last stand-off at Drumcree, near Portadown town in County Armagh, the local Orange Order is attempting to march down the predominantly Catholic/nationalist Garvaghy Road as local residents block their path. […]

Trade unions and the Left – go on the offensive. Berlin voters have shown that they want real change and improvements, and have rejected the austerity policies of the conservative CDU and SPD social democrats. […]

When kids in school learn about the countries of Europe different categories are used, depending what categories are taken into account. The question if Georgia belongs to Europe is as controversial as the question towards […]

Industrial action in the public sector begins on 30 September. Two strike days are scheduled – 14 & 21 October. More are planned. Following massive votes for strike action, public sector workers are moving onto […]

Militant Left (CWI Ireland) supporters in Ireland joined the Affordable Ireland pre-budget demonstration in Dublin on Saturday 19 September. The Irish Government and global media claims that Ireland is a wealthy country mask a very […]

The Scottish National Party (SNP) government have voted down a moratorium on the hugely controversial plans for up to 24 hyperscale data centres in Scotland. At Holyrood, the seat of the Scottish parliament, the Scottish […]

On Saturday 12th of September, Militant Left (CWI Ireland) joined tens of thousands of people in Dublin city centre to tell President Donald Trump he was not wanted in Ireland. The latest in a long […]

The Economist magazine, 15 August, published an article, ‘What Britain can teach Democrats: How to stop extremists from making a party unelectable’, in which it refers to Militant in Britain – the predecessor of the […]

For united action and an end to policy based upon competition between plants in different locations! On 3 September 2026, the Volkswagen (VW) Supervisory Board voted unanimously in favour of drastic cost-cutting plans. Yet just […]

A socialist programme is needed! Several heatwaves swept across Europe and Germany this summer. Whilst forest fires raged in France and Spain, amongst other places, temperatures in Germany were also above 40 degrees. According to […]

Polarization over the AfD … plays into the AfD’s hands Die Linke must finally open a class front! The election result in Saxony-Anhalt is a political earthquake that was long on the cards. It can […]

Following the recent news regarding the death of the Norwegian monarch, King Harald V, the bourgeois media in the country has once again been working overtime to portray the late King as a benevolent figure. […]

At the end of April, a trial began in Stuttgart of Palestine solidarity activists who have become known as the ‘Ulm 5’. What is this case about? A year ago, five activists broke into the […]

This September, Germany is facing a political earthquake that has long been on the cards. In the state elections in Saxony-Anhalt and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the right populist AfD is likely to emerge as the strongest […]

The war on Iran has again shifted the global context within which the war in Ukraine is being fought. The disruption caused to global oil supplies delivered a substantial financial shot in the arm to […]

The death of Cambridge professor Jason Arday is a horrible personal tragedy for him and all his family, the cruel outcome of a cruel system. Whether or not he plagiarised some of his work, or […]

Among the state elections due to take place in Germany in September, two in eastern Germany are set to shake the republic to its core. According to opinion polls, the AfD is the leading party […]

In 2025, the Economist magazine named Portugal the “Economy of the Year”. According to the magazine, high growth rates and a lucrative stock market promise good investment opportunities for those with the necessary capital. But […]

Mass mobilisations needed to fight cuts by federal and state government! “The year is 2026. All over the world, right-wing and far-right parties are winning elections… all over the world? No! In Graz, a small […]

The 20th National Shop Stewards Network (NSSN) conference took place in London last Saturday. In the centenary year of the British 1926 General Strike, just days after Keir Starmer’s resignation as Labour prime minister, and […]

Our comrade Marie-José Douet — known as Dadou — passed away on May 13 at the age of 79. Her funeral service took place on May 26, just a month ago. Since her death, we […]

In Norway, hospitals are funded by the regional health authorities, while schools and care homes are funded by local councils. As of June 2026, the Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet, AP) leads the national government. Local and […]

Two years on from a ‘landslide’ general election victory, British Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer has resigned. Whether through contest or coronation, Andy Burnham is set to be Labour leader and Prime Minister by September […]

The following is a personal statement by Sascha Staničić regarding the allegations made by the right-wing media portal ‘Nius’:  On 22 June, the right-wing media portal ‘Nius’ and Julius Böhm published various articles on their […]

During the last three weeks Albanian masses have taken to the streets in daily protests against a four-billion-dollar tourist project on their coastline. It is a mass protest of hundreds of thousands of people, in […]

This year marks the 90th anniversary of a wave of mass strikes in France, following the election of a Popular Front government. To mark the occasion, we publish an article written by PETER TAAFFE, which […]

Cologne’s swimming pool operator, Köln-Bäder GmbH, a subsidiary of Cologne’s council’s municipal services provider, Stadtwerke-Köln GmbH, has filed a motion for the extraordinary termination of employment of works council member, Martin Löber. The reason given for this termination is alleged working-hour fraud. Experts from ver.di (the public sector union) who have […]

Within days, the city of Belfast has been rocked by racist violence and pogroms against ethnic minorities. The vast majority of working-class people in the north are appalled by these events. Many older people in […]

Nikol Pashinyan has emerged victorious in Armenia’s parliamentary elections, securing a mandate that will shape the country’s geopolitical orientation in the coming years. The election took place amid growing tensions between Yerevan and Moscow. Pashinyan, […]

Watch Carmel Gates, General Secretary of NIPSA and a Militant Left (CWI Ireland) supporter, and Padraig Mulholland, Assistant General Secretary of NIPSA and a Militant Left supporter, respond to the recent wave of racist and […]

Belfast has been rocked by two nights of violence that that saw roads blocked, people driven from their homes and vehicles burned. The attacks were carried out by gangs who had been mobilised by calls […]

Below are two articles appearing in the new issue of Solidarität, the newspaper of Sol (Sozialistische Organisation Solidarität) the CWI in Germany. Hard Attacks, Weak Government Class struggle from below is the alternative Tom Hoffmann, […]

A very militant and combative annual delegate conference of the Northern Ireland Public Service Alliance took place in Northern Ireland from 26 to 28 May. The CWI was invited as one of the guest speakers. […]

An interview with Sascha Staničić, member of the Executive Committee of Sozialistische Organisation Solidarität (Sol – section of the CWI in Germany) about his candidacy for the national committee of Die Linke (the Left Party)  […]

The Scottish Parliament voted recently to demand from Westminster the powers to hold a second independence referendum. The 72 to 55 vote among MSPs was no surprise. This is the fourth Holyrood parliament in a […]

Nearly a year ago, the newly installed Bolojan administration announced a series of cuts, starting with student scholarships, and the extension of working hours for teachers and other education employees. Taking advantage of the fact […]

The death of 35‑year‑old Yves Sakila, a Congolese man living in Ireland, after being violently restrained by private security guards in Dublin has sparked outrage. The shocking footage, shared widely online, has exposed once again […]

The Socialist Party, the England & Wales section of the CWI, organises caucuses of party members in most British trade unions. CWI trade unionists work as part of ‘broad left’ organisations wherever possible, collaborating with […]

As expected, Labour suffered a crushing defeat at the election for the Senedd (Welsh Parliament) on 7 May. Labour won just nine seats out of 96 in a newly extended Senedd, down from 30 seats […]

The results of the elections for the Scottish and Welsh parliaments and 5,000 English local council seats produced, as predicted, a slaughtering of the despised Labour Party. Reduced to just 17 MSPs out of 129 […]

For a working class answer to the political crisis On 20 April, in a move dubbed “The Moment of Truth”, the so-called Social Democratic Party (PSD) announced its decision to withdraw political support for Prime […]

Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly and English local election analysis 2026 will be remembered as the year that Britain’s existing political order finally fell apart. The two main parties that have governed Britain in the interests […]

2026 marks the centenary of Britain’s general strike. From 4-12 May 1926, workers tasted power, in what is the most important event yet in the history of the British working class. Ian Pattison describes events. socialistworld.net […]

Hotel and restaurant employees are walking off the job in Norway, and with good reason. The biggest owners of Norwegian hotel chains Stordalen, Thon, Ringnes, and others, have made billions in fortunes in the hotel […]

Over the weekend of 18-19 April, the CWI’s European Bureau met in London, with comrades from Austria, England & Wales, France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Romania and Scotland in attendance. The Bureau discussed and debated […]

Having read the foreword to Peter Mertens’ book “Mutiny”, I was full of anticipation for the rest of the book. The leader of the Belgian Workers’ Party (Parti du Travail de Belgique / Partij van […]

Lessons on the character and limits of right-populism in government in Europe Viktor Orban has conceded defeat in Hungary’s parliamentary elections, ending the first and longest ‘experiment’ in right-populist government in this era. At the […]

This week’s fuel protests in southern Ireland are just the first shocks to land in the country after Trump and Netanyahu unleashed hell on Iran. Motorways across the country and O’Connell Street in Dublin city […]

Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orbán, a pioneer of modern right-wing populism, faces crisis after the upcoming elections on 12 April. The long rule of Fidesz (Alliance of Young Democrats) has been challenged by Magyar Péter […]

Three days, twenty-seven events, more than forty speakers – 2026 ‘Socialism Days’ After seven long years, a nationwide ‘Socialism Days’ event organised by Sol (Sozialistische Organisation Solidarität – CWI Germany) took place in Berlin once […]

Hundreds of thousands of people took part in the anti-far right Together demonstration on 28 March in London. The driving force behind the mass turnout was a desire to show that far-right ideas and politics are […]

The second round of the municipal elections confirms and amplifies the trends observed in the first round (read our statement): deep social anger, a massive rejection of austerity policies, and a political polarisation that is […]

The results of the first round of the municipal elections on Sunday 15 March confirm one thing: there is a lot of anger against the rotten policies carried out in the towns and cities against […]

In 2025, 59 women were killed by their partners, former partners, or family members, and the Minister of Justice stated that approximately 14 women are assaulted every hour in Romania (taking into account only reported […]

The “Prince of Darkness” Peter Mandelson lobbied strongly to bring pollution to the Sperrin mountains of Co Tyrone, in Northern Ireland. This was Dalradian Gold’s proposed gold mine at Greencastle. There have been more objections […]

In another humiliating setback for dKeir Starmer’s Labour in Britain, High Court judges have ruled that the proscription of Palestine Action last year was ‘unlawful’. The proscription of Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation made […]

Keir Starmer started the new year with net approval ratings (-66 points) lower than any prime minister since polling records begun in the 1970s. The sordid revelations from the Epstein files, going to the heart […]

Solidarity with LFI! How to push back the far right? Last Thursday in Lyon, a young nationalist activist was killed following a clash between “autonomous” activists and far-right militants, notably from the racist and identitarian […]

The first six of the Filton 24 to go on trial have walked free. The activists, who allegedly broke into and sabotaged an Elbit Systems factory near Bristol which produces weapons for the Israeli military, […]

‘Your Party Scotland’ was officially launched at a conference on 7/8 February in Dundee. Attended by around 250 members in person, with more taking part online, the conference was the first national opportunity for Your […]

Originally published in Socialism Today, magazine of the Socialist Party (CWI England & Wales). Giorgia Meloni’s coalition government in Italy has been in power for over three years now. If she lasts to the end […]

The Scottish government’s pre-election budget – the 19th since the Scottish National Party (SNP) won power at Holyrood in 2007 – did nothing to alter the crisis of underfunded public services and deep-rooted poverty in […]

The latest round of cuts to Scotland’s colleges is yet another damning indictment of an education system suffocating under austerity and the failed priorities of both Holyrood and Westminster. For years, staff and students have […]

Originally published in Socialism Today, magazine of the Socialist Party (CWI England & Wales). TOM HOFFMAN of Sol (CWI Germany), explains why Die Linke (the Left party) has undergone an unexpected electoral and membership growth […]

Last month marked 10,000 days since the re-establishment of local government at Stormont buildings, Belfast, following the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. Its failure to deliver social and economic improvements, let alone bridge the deep […]

On 1 December, the biggest protest in over 30 years took place in Bulgaria. Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets of the capital Sofia, and many other cities across the country chanting […]

Nationwide school strike shows potential for the fight against militarism While the new military conscription law was being voted on in the Bundestag on the morning of December 5, school students across Germany took to […]

The findings of the ‘Operation Kenova’ inquiry, released last week in Belfast, into some of the British state’s covert operations during the ‘Troubles’ in the north of Ireland (approximately from 1969 to 1998) are a […]

The largest hunger strike on these islands since the 1981 Republican prisoners’ protest in the Maze prison in the north of Ireland is barely being registered by the mass media. The Filton hunger strikers are […]

Labour chancellor Rachel Reeves’s Budget on 27 November re-emphasised the burning need for mass working-class opposition to Labour austerity. That need, increasingly acutely felt, was at the root of the explosion of enthusiasm for Jeremy Corbyn […]

Donald Trump attacked the BBC in November 2025 over a Panorama television documentary that edited his January 6, 2021 speech in a way he claimed was misleading, calling the broadcaster “beyond corrupt” and threatening to […]

The formation of ‘Your Party’ was announced just five months ago. Now, thousands are preparing for its founding conference in Liverpool 29-30 November. The conference is likely to involve around 4,000 attendees, short of the […]

One hundred years ago, in November 1915, the rent strike battle in Glasgow was in full swing. This was an historic event that saw up to 20,000 tenants refusing to pay the increased rent imposed […]

White House clashes with Zelensky and European backers over The war in Ukraine has returned to the top of global headlines following US president Trump’s latest attempt to impose a peace plan on Ukraine president […]

The anti-immigrant, Islamophobic and far-right party of Geert Wilders, the Party for Freedom (PVV), suffered a severe blow in Dutch parliamentary elections on the 29th of October, falling back from 37 to 26 seats. Left parties failed […]

The declaration for a new party announced by Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana began with a bang, with 800,000 signing up in support. Since then, of course, public divisions at the top have dampened some […]

The Austrian ruling coalition of conservatives (ÖVP – People’s party), social democrats (SPÖ) and liberals (NEOS), formed in March this year six months after a general election, is implementing an austerity package totalling 15 billion […]

In the new Romania of acute austerity, the government seems overwhelmed by inner division while locked in a conflict with the judiciary. At the same time, important student struggles have taken place, with mixed results. […]

There is growing and widespread dissatisfaction with capitalism worldwide. Economic models that dominated the post-WW2 decades — Keynesian social democracy and later neoliberal globalization — are seen as having run aground. The system today is […]

Catherine Connolly has won the 2025 Irish presidential election in a landslide victory. Her candidacy was supported by left and social democratic parties, the Greens and by Sinn Fein. Connolly secured  63.36%  of the vote. […]

Yesterday a judge in Belfast gave a ‘not guilty’ verdict regarding ‘Soldier F’,  a former parachute regiment solider who was accused of the murder of two civilians in Derry city, on January 30th 1972, in […]

Character, programme and methods of the new radical left This year has seen France plunged into one of the most serious political and social crises since the founding of the 5th Republic by Charles De […]

With characteristic hypocrisy and cynical opportunism, the far-right have pounced after  the alleged sickening sexual assault on a 10-year-old girl in Citywest. A man from the Citywest IPAS centre has been charged with this assault. […]

Keir Starmer’s Labour government is preparing yet more austerity in the Autumn Budget while Reform rises in the polls. But with the recent clashes at the summit of ‘Your Party’ and the published timetable for […]

Editorial of Socialism Today No. 291, monthly magazine of the Socialist Party. Originally published on 2 October 2025. Barely two months after Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana’s July 24 joint announcement of “a new kind […]

Your Party must stand as part of a mass working class and socialist election challenge The Scottish National Party (SNP) annual conference met over 11–13 October, just seven months before the Scottish Parliament election due in […]

The presidential elections are in full swing in Ireland. Last week, one of the three candidates, Jim Gavin, backed by Fianna Fáil, a governing coalition party, along with Fine Gael, abandoned the race after it […]

The Israeli state’s capture and arrest of aid workers, peace campaigners, workers representatives and parliamentarians on the Global Sumud Flotilla has sparked a general strike across Italy. The flotilla vessels, which were aiming to break […]

Against the background of rising tensions and protests over the issue of asylum seekers being accommodated in hotels, urgent discussion needs to take place in the workers’ movement to put forward a fighting policy of […]

A big step forward for the solidarity movement in Germany On 27 September, around 100,000 people took to the streets in Berlin in solidarity with the people of Gaza. This is the largest protest to […]

After a week of public disagreement between the two left MPs – Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana – who launched the call for ‘Your Party’, the show is back on the road. It is now […]

On 27 September, the largest mass demonstration to date in Germany calling for solidarity with the people of Gaza and the West Bank and against occupation, displacement and war by the Israeli government could take […]

The Italian working class are beginning to take centre stage in the fight for the end to the brutal genocide inflicted on the people of Gaza by the Israeli state. In the middle of August […]

The following statement by Gauche Révolutionnaire (Revolutionary Left- CWI France) is in response to the 18 September strike action by French workers against the budget plans of the government of President Emmanuel Macron. The budget […]

Workers’ movement must urgently respond! The ‘Unite the Kingdom’ march in London on 13 September sounds a warning that the workers’ movement must urgently respond to. Police estimate that 110,000 took to the streets in […]

In March 2020, Ludovic Orban of the National Liberal Party (PNL) hilariously celebrated his anti-worker government reaching the “ripe age of three months”. The next day the government fell. At the beginning of this summer, […]

On Monday, 8 September, the new school year began in Romania. Teachers boycotted the usual opening ceremonies and took to the streets instead, protesting new austerity measures being introduced by the government. Up to 10,000 […]

On Monday 8 September, as expected, French prime minister François Bayrou lost a confidence vote in France’s National Assembly. Meanwhile, a groundswell from below has been growing towards a day of strikes and protests across […]

From Socialism Today, magazine of the Socialist Party (CWI England & Wales). France Insoumise is the main left organisation in France, with 70 MPs and nearly half a million members. Leïla Messaoudi of Gauche Révolutionnaire (CWI […]

With French president Emmanuel Macron at a record low level of popularity, he faces the prospect of losing his third prime minister within a year – as prime minister Francois Bayrou has called a confidence […]

Hundreds of deaths in Gaza from malnutrition, almost half of them children. Hundreds of people slaughtered while seeking food. And now the Israeli military says it is preparing for the forcible displacement of one million […]

The following thesis on perspectives for European capitalism was agreed at the 14th World Congress of the Committee for a Workers’ International, which convened in Berlin, Germany, from 27 to 31 July 2025. Delegates attended in […]

The recent summit between President Trump and President Putin, held in Alaska under the guise of “peace diplomacy,” and the hurriedly convened meeting of Ukraine leader, Vladimir Zelensky, and leading European powers at the White […]

Socialist Party Scotland and our forerunner, Militant, have a rich history of struggle within the labour and trade union movement, tracing our roots back to the early days of Trotsky’s International Left Opposition against Stalinism. […]

In one week, more than 700,000 people have signed up to the yourparty.uk website to support Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana’s initiative to build a new left party. The party doesn’t yet exist, and so there is […]

On 21 July over one thousand trade unionists – on Zoom and via a live feed – met to discuss the fight for a new workers’ party. The meeting arose from a petition for trade […]

Former left Labour Westminster MP Zarah Sultana’s announcement that she intends to co-lead a new party with former Left Labour Party leader, Jeremy Corbyn, has placed even more pressure on already stress-fractured Green Parties in […]

The situation in Serbia is still critical after another huge anti-government protest on 28 June. Around 300,000 people again gathered in Belgrade from all over the country to show solidarity with the student movement. The […]

Just a year into Labour prime minister Keir Starmer’s rule in Britain and his ‘huge parliamentary majority’ has fallen apart. Elected with the lowest share of the electorate of any government since universal suffrage was […]

A glance at the news headlines shows: We are living in turbulent times of multiple capitalist crises. Wars in the Middle East and the Ukraine, environmental destruction, right-wing populist governments and, above all, an economic […]

On 1 June 2025, Poles elected a new president. To the surprise of many, the winner was Karol Nawrocki, a previously unknown and unrecognisable figure. He received 50.89% of the vote in the second round, […]

The county Antrim town of Ballymena has witnessed two nights of serious rioting, with targeted attacks against immigrants and ethnic minorities. Immigrants were forced out of their homes. Terrified ethnic minorities have resorted to putting […]

In most countries, following the collapse of Stalinism in 1989-91, the working class is still without its own mass political organisations. Syriza and other ‘new left formations’ were initial attempts at filling that void but […]

Nicușor-Daniel Dan, the mayor of Bucharest and founder of the neo-liberal USR (Save Romania Union) party, won the second round of the Romanian presidential elections, marking the end of a six-month period full of political […]

Equal pay for equal work! For several weeks now, non-medical staff, including canteen, garden, security, transport, logistics, cleaning and technical workers at Charité Facility Management (CFM) in Berlin, a subsidiary of Charité university hospital, the […]

The British Labour party suffered a humiliating defeat in the 1 May local elections, exposing the deep unpopularity of the Keir Starmer government. But far from cutting across electoral support for Nigel Farage’s right-populist Reform […]

On 18 May, up to half a million people marched against the slaughter in Gaza and the starvation policy imposed on the Strip by the right wing Israeli government. Days later, the UK Labour government […]

Belfast is world-renowned for its shipbuilding given the most famous ship in history, the Titanic, was built in the city. Less known is its role as a pioneer in aircraft manufacture. In 1908, Eustace and […]

A supposedly ‘historic’ trade deal between the US and UK was signed on 8 May, the first the US had agreed with any country following the chaos unleashed by Trump’s sweeping tariffs in April. Many […]

A wage agreement between the main trade union federation in Norway, the LO, and NHO (the employers’ organization, the NHO, was announced by both parties on Tuesday, April 1st 2025. They said that the framework […]

In a historically unprecedented development, today the Christian Democratic candidate Friedrich Merz was unexpectedly not elected Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, in the first ballot for the position. This is the first time […]

Fight for a united working-class struggle against all oppressions and for socialism The Supreme Court ruling on Wednesday 16 April 2025 proves yet again that minority rights are not secure in a society in which […]

This is a government focused on serving its capitalist masters. That was one clear message from Labour’s Spring Statement. The second is that the working class must organise to defy the expectation that it will […]

Taking place in a ‘new era’ of unprecedented political volatility and turmoil, epitomised by Trump’s second presidency, 290 attended the Socialist Party’s three-day congress in Coventry, 15-17 March 2025. “The most important meeting of the […]

The biggest protest in Serbian history happened on 15th March in the capital Belgrade. The upper estimate is 800,000 people; the entire population of Serbia is less than seven million. It was a culmination of […]

Below are three reports of recent successes won by Socialist Party (CWI England & Wales) members in union elections.   Victory for socialist Marco Tesei in University and College Union Left must organise to fight […]

On September 29 in 2024 parliamentary elections took place in Austria. But it was not until March 2025 that a new government was formed. It took three separate negotiating attempts before it could be formed: […]

Keir Starmer, Britain’s Prime Minister, is everyday revealing the extent to which he is determined to govern in the interests of the capitalist bosses. His party, the Labour Party, was founded by the trade unions […]

Employment Rights Bill: Unions must fight to strengthen workers’ rights Trade union leaders have been lining up to extol the Labour government’s Employment Rights Bill, as secretary of state for business and trade Jonathan Reynolds […]

What position should socialists take? On 1 March, in response to the row between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky, the national executive of the Left Party passed a resolution that is, unfortunately, analytically wrong and […]

If anyone had doubts about the second Donald Trump administration unravelling the so-called ‘world order’, they will have had a sobering experience over the last few weeks. Trump has ditched the normal niceties of international […]

There has been a litany of incidents of horrific violence against women and girls in Britain in recent years. The scale of misogyny in London’s Metropolitan Police is on full view following the jailing of […]

With the announcement that energy bills for a ‘typical’ household in Britain will rise by £111 a year from April, a 6.4% increase, millions of working-class families will despair at further increasing pressure on household […]

The Left is the ray of hope against cuts and racism The result of the federal election is a slap in the face of the established, pro-capitalist parties. The only parties that won were those […]

Keir Starmer’s New Labour government has only reached its eighth month in office but the cracks are beginning to show around numerous issues, including oil field licensing, foreign policy, and Starmer’s increasingly strident anti-migrant rhetoric. […]

Germany goes to the polls on 23 February for elections to the Bundestag (parliament) after the so-called ‘traffic light coalition’ (comprised of social democrats, Greens and liberals) collapsed in November. Germany is one of the […]

Strain all your forces now to get into the parliament – and plan for the time afterwards In the midst of the shift to the right in the ruling politics – from Trump to Merz […]

One year ago, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) returned to power sharing at the Northern Ireland Stormont Assembly under the pressure of a mounting industrial crisis which culminated in the January 18th public sector strike. […]

Socialist Party Scotland condemns the threats from Aberdeen City Council to make millions in cuts on the backs of hard working council employees. Their proposals are to slash the working week of council staff while […]

Last week, the Norwegian two party minority coalition government collapsed, according to the Financial Times (London), “over whether Norway should keep more of its electricity for itself to lower prices or export it to the […]

The situation in Serbia has reached the boiling point, after three months of student protests demanding justice for the fifteen victims of the collapsed roof at the railway station in the city of Novi Sad […]

New party in Germany is no alternative for working people Since this statement was issued BSW members of the German parliament, on January 31, voted in favour of the “influx limitation law” produced by the […]

It was apt that Sir Keir Starmer, the UK prime minister, staged his Labour government’s December ‘relaunch’ at Pinewood Studios, where the old comedy ‘Carry On’ movies were filmed. Starmer was hoping to breathe new […]

No matter who will govern – opposition against those at the top is necessary On 23 February, early elections to the Bundestag (parliament) will take place. The fact that the ‘traffic light’ government (a coalition […]

Farce and grim comedy overshadowed last week’s announcement of a programme for government in southern Ireland, following November’s Dáil [parliament] elections. The incoming government will once again see right wing Fine Gael coalescing with right […]

The following article first appeared in ‘Sozialismus Heute’, the theoretical magazine of the ‘Sozialistische Organisation – Solidarität’ (German section of the CWI). We are publishing a translated version here. Slight changes have also been made […]

“This is not a Liz Truss moment”, declared a former director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), referring to the brief period of the Tory prime minister Liz Truss’s time in office, as the pound […]

VW workers’ rude awakening on a closer inspection of what it means The German metal workers’ union IG Metall leadership and the Volkswagen (VW) central works council (the legal non-union body representing the workforce) celebrated […]

2025 began where 2024 ended; with collapsing support for the Labour Party in Scotland and across the UK. The full reality of Starmer and Reeves’ betrayal of their albeit threadbare promises in opposition has been […]

After the negotiations to form a new government between conservatives (ÖVP), social democrats (SPÖ) and liberals (NEOS) broke down, mainly over the budget, Austria is entering a new period. It looks likely that either a […]

2024 saw the historic defeat of the once-most successful capitalist party in the world. The Tory Party vote at the general election collapsed, leading to the worst result in its 200-year history and its lowest-ever […]

Still dazed and disoriented from July’s UK general election humiliation, the Tories have a new leader, Kemi Badenoch – product of yet another leadership election fiasco. Surrounding her is a Conservative and Unionist Party – […]

Three police forces are found to have spied on Northern Ireland journalists Trevor Birney, Barry McCaffrey and Vincent Kearney. The same police spied on an un-named Northern Ireland Police Ombudsman employee. The police forces were […]

Things will be no different in 2025  Not only was 2024 a hotter year than previous years in terms of climate, the political situation in the world was also “hot” and marked by crises, wars […]

The Westminster Labour government has approved the takeover of Royal Mail by EP group whose majority shareholder is multi-billionaire Daniel Kretinsky, with a personal wealth said to be over £9 billion.  The Communication Workers Union […]

,The disgraceful decision by Keir Starmer’s UK Labour government to cut the £300 winter fuel allowance for pensioners, except for those on the state pension who are entitled to pension credits, provoked a storm of […]

In Goodbye to Russia, Sarah Rainsford covers her two decades based in Moscow as a reporter for the BBC as well as an earlier period in St Petersburg as a student and an English teacher. […]

As we go to press, the Social Democratic Party (PSD) announced their withdrawal from the discussions to form a new government coalition in Romania, citing the lack of willingness of the neoliberal Save Romania Union […]

A roof at the train station collapsed in the city of Novi Sad in Serbia on a busy November morning, killing 15 people. It collapsed two months after a ‘reconstruction’ job where tonnes of new […]

Following the Dáil [parliament of the Irish republic] elections of 29 November, government formation talks continue. While there is no doubt that the two main traditional ruling parties of Irish capitalism, Fianna Fáil and Fine […]

Crisis, Conflict and Class Struggle The end of the coalition between the Social Democratic Party (SPD), the Greens and the Free Democratic Party (FDP) on the evening of 6 November did not really come as […]

It is often a paradox of war that as the end begins to loom in the distance, the ground fighting intensifies. With the election of Donald Trump to the White House, the war in Ukraine, […]

Three short months and then it’s gone! President Emmanuel Macron only managed to keep in place his stopgap, appointed prime minister, Michel Barnier, and his government, for only three months. His roadmap was clear: to […]

The management team of Germany’s largest industrial group has proclaimed a turning point in operations. Wage cuts, mass layoffs and factory closures are on the table. What to do now? The Volkswagen Group may be […]

Friday’s Dáil [parliament] election brings to a close a short and dismal campaign. Outgoing Fine Gael Taoiseach [prime minister], Simon Harris, has managed to demolish Fine Gael’s polling lead in a mere three weeks. The […]

Following the Scottish government’s announcement in January that more than 1,000 funded university places for Scottish students would be cut, the Herald newspaper has unearthed several ominous findings about the funding gap widening in Scottish […]

Donald Trump has been elected again, this time as the candidate with the most votes. Millions of people in the US and worldwide are looking on in trepidation as he announces a series of ultra-right […]

The Scottish government have announced another delay in their much talked about National Care Service amid overwhelming opposition from care workers, trade unions and local authorities. In this article written before the announcement, Chris Sermanni, […]

“It’s like being in a disaster movie”, was the way that one person put it when asked how he felt about the recent wave of floods that have decimated large areas of Spain’s eastern coastline near Valencia. […]

Scotland continues to be the drugs death capital of Europe for the sixth year in a row. An estimated 1,172 people lost their lives due to drugs last year.  The figure might be the second […]

The trade unions and the Left Party must take up an independent and combative class position The end of the coalition between the SPD, the Greens and the liberal FDP on the evening of Wednesday […]

These are days of unconsolable mourning and righteous anger in València. Accompanied by shouts of “murderer”, the king and queen of Spain were pelted with mud when they visited the area and on the same […]

Recently, DNB, a bank in Norway with both private and state ownership, reported quarterly earnings of NOK 15.2 billion (around £1 billion sterling), attributed largely to significant increases in mortgage repayments for workers and pensioners. […]

World relations between imperialist and capitalist powers are in an unprecedented state of flux and turmoil. The unipolar world dominated by US imperialism that briefly existed following the collapse of the former USSR in 1991 […]

After years of riding high in the polls, Sinn Féin [‘Ourselves Alone’ – a republican party historically linked to the Provisional Irish Republican Army] are mired in a deep crisis. Just a few weeks from […]

President Macron’s party was beaten in the European Elections in France. It was an anti-Macron referendum that resulted in a victory for the far right Le Pen’s party Rassemblement National (RN) in an election with […]

“Things will get worse before they get better.” “The Tories left an even bigger mess than we realised.” “There’s a £22 billion black hole” – or is that £40 billion now? How many more ways […]

Alan Hardman was the first printer of the Militant (the predecessor newspaper of Socialist – weekly of the Socialist Party England & Wales (CWI)) and produced hundreds of political cartoons for publication in our party […]

The New Popular Front (NPF) received the most seats in the recent parliamentary elections in France, 182 out of the 577 total in the National Assembly. Standing on a programme of reducing the pension age […]

What do you make of Keir Starmer’s first 100 days in office, which came to an end on 12 October? His Labour Party had a +6 ‘net favourability’ rating upon taking office. 90 days in […]

For years now it has been apparent that Norwegian Air Shuttle has been using anti-union and union-busting tactics. In the pre-pandemic years the Air Shuttle bosses wanted a name list of Swedish pilots which the […]

The war in Ukraine catapulted to the top of the news on 6 August when Ukrainian forces launched an unexpected assault over the border into the Kursk region of Russia. They rapidly took over 400 […]

On Saturday 5 October 2024, the Socialist Party (CWI England & Wales) took part in the biggest anti-war demonstration since the first months of the onslaught on Gaza, marching on 10 Downing Street, the New […]

The Samson and Goliath cranes in Belfast shipyard continue to dominate the city’s skyline but workers in the shipbuilding sector once again face an insecure future. For more than 160 the Harland & Wolff has […]

What happens when there is a crisis but no mass workers’ party In the general elections on September 29 the far-right Freedom party (FPÖ), led by Herbert Kickl, emerged victorious with 28.8%, 1.4 million votes, […]

Lough Neagh is a freshwater lake in Northern Ireland and is the largest lake on the island of Ireland and in the United Kingdom. According to Northern Ireland Water, it supplies 40.7% of Northern Ireland’s drinking water. Lough Neagh is also home […]

Socialist change and planning needed to combat climate change After weeks of heatwaves with temperatures reaching up to 35°Celsius, a flood wave is currently moving through southern Poland. Regions in the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, […]

Steelworkers in Community and GMB unions  in Wales are awaiting the results of a vote on whether to accept a settlement with Tata Steel. Unite the Union representatives decided that the terms were not good […]

From Socialism Today, magazine of the Socialist Party (CWI England & Wales). Originally published under the title “Boy Trouble”. Recently there has been a proliferation of articles, books, reports and surveys looking at boys and young […]

The contrast between the insurgent mood that marked the run-up to September 18 2014 and the prospects for Scottish independence today, on the face of it, could not be more different. ‘Indyref 1’ was an […]

The author is also a DIE LINKE member. How can the Party’s left react to the decline? The crisis of the Left Party (Die Linke) has not come to an end even with the departure […]

Two months into the new Labour government, the Trades Union Congress (TUC – which brings together 5.5 million workers in trade unions across the public and private sector) held its annual Congress. At a time […]

Elections in Eastern federal states show massive dissatisfaction with national government  The question was not whether the September 1 state elections Saxony and Thuringia (two of the so-called “new federal states” which formed part of […]

One month after Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour party was ‘swept to power’ by a paltry 20% of the electorate – the lowest support base of any government since the introduction of universal male suffrage in […]

Let’s get rid of Macron and his policy for the ultra-rich with it! Through our struggles, let’s demand a real salary, a real job and decent and accessible housing for all! On September 7 and […]

Resist racist propaganda and the restriction of democratic rights The terrorist attack that took place last week in Solingen, Germany, is shocking. Three people were killed at a town festival and eight were injured, some […]

Socialist alternative to right-wing populists, CDU and traffic lights needed! At around 3 pm on Saturday, 31 August, hundreds of people gathered at three different rallies in Leipzig city centre to demonstrate against the AfD […]

The Israeli state’s onslaught on Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip continues despite international condemnation, massive protests across the world and the unimaginable suffering of those trapped by the IDF’s siege. With the death toll […]

Joint struggle of all workers needed to defend LGBTQI+ rights The annual Christopher Street Day (CSD) LGBTQI+ Pride parade took place in Bautzen, Saxony, on 10 August. Although it was well attended with 1,000 demonstrators, […]

In a dramatic twist to the Russia-Ukraine war, Kyiv ordered its armed forces into the Kursk region of Russia on the 6th of August. This marks the first serious incursion into Russian territory since the […]

After over a week of horrific violent racist and Islamophobic attacks, huge numbers took to the streets in counter-protests on 7 August. Millions of Black and Asian people, especially Muslims, have been living in fear. […]

Tens of thousands of anti-racist counter-protesters took to the streets over the last week across Britain and the North of Ireland in response to a wave of attacks against immigrants by far right mobs. On […]

On August 8th, members of Sol (CWI Germany) in Berlin gathered in front of the Nigerian embassy to protest for the immediate release of Adaramoye Michael, Babatunde Oluajo and Mosiu Sodiq. During protests against the […]

For working class unity not division! Horrific scenes played out at the weekend (3-4 August) in Britain as hundreds of people gathered outside hotels housing asylum seekers in Rotherham and Hull, throwing bricks and bottles, […]

The workers at the Bundesanzeiger publishing house in Cologne have been on strike for more than 70 days. They are fighting for a collective agreement that has not yet been granted to them, and what’s […]

Sir Keir Starmer’s New Labour spent the election campaign endlessly repeating that they would have to make ‘tough choices’ in office. Now they are doubling down, claiming to be surprised at the terrible £22 billion […]

The disturbances in the Coolock area of Dublin earlier this month are the latest in an escalating trend of far Right and fascist violence in the country. The State has made clear it is happy to allow […]

There is an ongoing bitter battle in Serbia around a proposed lithium mine. This battle isn’t new – the current Serbian government approved the mine in 2021 and it is generally acknowledged that it was […]

Is British prime minister Keir Starmer going to “give the unions what they want”? That was the question put to him about the whole swathe of public-sector pay deals, with recommendations due in the next […]

The phenomenon of right-wing populism is not new in most countries, but there is much to suggest that it has reached a new level. Not only because in opinion polls and elections the share of […]

A recent BBC interview with the president of Guyana, Irfaan Ali, has racked up millions of views. In it, he calls out the hypocrisy of the interviewer questioning his government’s plans to extract billions of […]

Volatile Period Opens Up Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour Party has been swept into power in Britain – by 20.1% of the electorate, the lowest share for any incoming government since the first ever election fought […]

The UK general election resulted in a historic defeat for the Conservative Party in England and Wales, and the Scottish National Party (SNP) in Scotland, with Keir Starmer’s pro-capitalist Labour Party gaining a majority in […]

Aside from the Tories, the biggest losers in the UK general election, which took place on 4 July, were the Scottish National Party (SNP). They emerged bloodied with just nine MPs, down from the 48 […]

French President Emmanuel Macron had “thrown [his] unpinned grenade in our legs” [in his own words] on 9 June, by dissolving the Assembly. He gave Jordan Bardella’s RN (far-right National Rally), winner of the European […]

Not just booted out. The Tories (Conservative Party) have been crushed. The electorate has punished them for fourteen years of austerity, attacks on the working class, lies and corruption. Less than seven million people went […]

The majority did not vote for RN or Macron: let’s show it! Unite! Let’s mobilize in the streets! Against Bardella and the RN against Macron’s policies on July 7 vote New Popular Front! Not a […]

The Labour Party has watered down its promises on workers’ and trade union rights, in keeping with the dumping of almost all the policies from the Corbyn era since Keir Starmer lied his way to […]

The first round of parliamentary elections in France saw Marine Le Pen’s far right RN taking the largest vote, at 33.2%, ahead of the New Popular Front on 28% and President Emmanuel Macron’s Ensemble alliance […]

The UK general elections take place on 4th July. As well as an expected Tory party meltdown and a Labour majority, the Green party is on course to possibly win more seats. Many voters regard […]

This is the text of a leaflet by Sol, the CWI in Germany, which has been distributed through the workers’ and trade union movement since May Day.   Hardly a day goes by without representatives […]

The following motion condemning the Gaza slaughter and calling for a class based, trade union approach to the conflict in the Middle East was passed at the recent conference of the Northern Ireland Public Services […]

Two weeks have passed since the local and European elections in the South of Ireland. These signalled further fragmentation within the political system. And from that fragmentation is posed ever accelerating political crisis. The financial […]

On 23rd May 2024 the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution that designated 11th July as the “International Day of Reflection and commemoration of the 1995 genocide in Srebrenica”. The resolution was drafted by Germany. […]

Steve Hollasky, Sozialistische Organisation Solidarität (Sol, CWI in Germany) CWI The results were expected, but they are still shocking: in the local elections in Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Saxony-Anhalt (and in Thuringia a few weeks […]

In the run up to the July general election, it could be time for the Scottish National Party (SNP) Scottish government to go back to school. In a cowardly and highly controversial move which will […]

Workers’ party with a socialist programme urgently needed The elections to the European Parliament in Germany were another reckoning with the federal government. The right-wing populist AfD (Alternative for Germany) and the Sahra Wagenknecht  Alliance […]

The European elections were like a referendum against Macron. His party did not reach 15% of the vote, with 48.5% abstaining! The workers and youth who did vote severely sanctioned his policies of continuous attacks […]

The June 6th-9th elections to the European parliament saw expected gains made by the populist and far right, on a 51% turnout of voters. The hard right is on course to hold almost a quarter […]

With the UK general election less than a month away Labour Party leader, Keir Starmer, remains on course for Downing Street. “Things can maybe get a bit better”, was how the Economist magazine summed up […]

Unite, one of the UK’s largest trade unions with over 1.2 million members, is campaigning in six vital oil-dependent constituencies in Scotland during the general election. This comes as a reaction to a key policy […]

Queen Mary: ‘We won’t pack up and give up!’ QMUL student, Tower Hamlets Socialist Party As we go into another week of the Queen Mary University student encampment for Palestine, East London, it’s becoming clear […]

The elections to the European Parliament will take place between June 6 and 9 in the 27 states in the EU. Right-wing populist and far-right – i.e. nationalist – parties are expected to be successful, […]

It is highly likely that a Keir Starmer-led Labour government will form in Britain after the general election on 4 July. But what will it inherit? An ailing economy with stagnant growth and productivity well […]

Next Friday 7 June voters in the South of Ireland go to the polls for the first national elections since the general election of February 2020. Since then, there have been seismic changes in Ireland. […]

Fourteen years of Tory government look set to come to an end on 4 July, 2024. Fourteen years of the super-rich raking in £billions, while the rest of us suffer falling living standards and crumbling […]

Keir Starmer’s announcement of six commitments for an incoming Labour government fall woefully short of promising real change after over 14 years of Tory misrule in Britain. Adding insult to injury, Labour leaders claim it […]

The infected blood inquiry in the UK published its final report on 20 May. It has detailed how thousands of people have died and many more exposed to contaminated blood, a scandal made worse by […]

Deepening divides in Europe exacerbated by Ukraine-Russia war Two recent events – the attempted assassination of Slovakia’s prime minister and the mass protests over the ‘Russian law’ introduced by the Georgian government – have increased […]

Fifty years ago, this week a “strike” was called by the Ulster Workers Council (UWC)  – a coalition of loyalist paramilitary groups, backed by some unionist politicians, like Ian Paisley – in Northern Ireland, in […]

Macron sets Kanaky on fire! Enough of France’s colonialist and repressive policy in New Caledonia! For the full and complete right to self-determination of the Kanaks! The Parisian media pretend to discover the situation in […]

As the Socialist [weekly paper of the Socialist Party – CWI England & Wales] goes to press, British trade union leaders meet with leaders of the Labour Party to discuss its ‘New Deal for Working […]

If anything, the beating the Tories took in the 2 May  local elections in parts of England and Wales was even greater than predicted, as voters vented their fury at the government. In the simultaneous […]

Issues arising from Brexit once again dominate media coverage of relations between the London and Dublin governments. This time the frictions, which have mounted to include the cancellation of Ministerial meetings, follow claims that the […]

University students across the United States have set up encampments to protest against the brutal onslaught on the Palestinian people by the Israeli state after the US Government agreed an extra $15 billion for the […]

We need a New Workers’ Party The less than 3-year-old power-sharing agreement between the SNP and Scottish Greens has collapsed. What has become a bitter fall out is rooted in falling support in working-class communities […]

The following article, written twenty years ago by Manny Thain for the 30th anniversary of the revolution, looks back on the lessons to be drawn from this turbulent period of Portuguese history. In addition to […]

The following resolution was adopted by the National Conference of Gauche Révolutionnaire (CWI in France) over the weekend of 23-24 March 2024. Since the end of the Covid-19 crisis, the capitalist world economy has not […]

Ghaith Abdul-Ahad, born in Iraq in the 1970s, began writing for the London Guardian and the Washington Post after the US led invasion in 2003. A Stranger in Your Own City starkly, and often beautifully, […]

Last week, Thursday 11 April, the largest trade union in Northern Ireland, NIPSA, held a protest at the office of the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, in central Belfast, demanding: ‘Peace now – stop […]

The Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act was implemented on 1 April to a storm of political debate. More than 7,000 hate crime reports were lodged at Police Scotland’s Contact, Command and Control Centres […]

On Friday, April 13, the Berlin police broke up the ‘Palestine Congress’, a conference of various pro-Palestinian and left-wing organisations, which had met under the motto of “We denounce” support for the Israeli government’s Gaza […]

Jeffrey Donaldson MP resigned his position as Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) party leader suddenly and unexpectedly on the morning of Good Friday, the twenty-seventh since the Belfast agreement was negotiated in 1997. The announcement came […]

Hundreds of home care workers are striking for pay justice. Socialist Party Scotland offers our full support to these workers in the fight for decent and equal pay that recognises the vital and skilled job […]

The working class of Ireland celebrated the unexpected resignation of the Taoiseach [Irish prime minister] Leo Varadkar, on 20 March. Varadkar is one of the most vicious neo-liberal, pro-capitalist politicians in the South of Ireland […]

The strike wave of the last two years in Britain and in other European countries has taken levels of industrial action to a scale not seen since the 1980s. A new generation of trade union […]

The crisis-ridden saga of Thames Water in Britain continues. Recent news suggests that a promised £3 billion of further investment into the company may be withheld, threatening the possibility that it will be unable to […]

A year has passed since the Scottish National Party (SNP) was thrown into a huge crisis following the resignation of Nicola Sturgeon as party leader and first minister in the Scottish parliament. As we pointed […]

The following document was discussed and adopted by the Socialist Party Scotland congress in March 2024.   International backdrop The tumultuous and increasingly overwhelming crises facing the global capitalist system is the backdrop to any […]

The horrific terror attacks on the outskirts of Moscow on 22 March shocked and repulsed Russians and people everywhere. At the time of writing, the death toll is officially 139 and rising. Over 180 people […]

Earlier this week, the Taoiseach [Irish prime minister] Leo Varadkhar, made a surprise resignation speech. He indicated various reasons behind the decision, including ‘political and personal’ factors. An important factor will have been the recent […]

The Communist Party (KPÖ) in Austria has seen a couple of successes in local and regional elections in the last two and a half years. The first was in Graz, Austria’s second largest city,  where […]

It is now over two years since the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the start of the war between the two countries, with Ukraine receiving essential Nato backing. The battlefront has been in a relative […]

‘Coal not dole’ was the cry across Britain as 180,000 members of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) in 180 pits began walking out on strike in March 1984. It became a long, bitter industrial […]

In the new world situation of deep capitalist crises and intensification of inter-imperialist conflicts, German imperialism is facing new challenges and divisions within the ruling class on the question of how the position of German […]

The following resolution was adopted by the Federal Conference of Sozialistische Organisation Solidarität (Sol, CWI in Germany) on the 9 December 2023. World & Europe What the CWI formulated at the beginning of this year […]

This  month marks the 40th anniversary of the start of the heroic miners’ strike in Britain. The eventual defeat of the miners, mainly due to the role of the TUC and Labour Party leaderships, has […]

Meeting on the eve of a general election which will usher in a new period of class struggle, delegates from our many Socialist Party branches across England and Wales met in London to discuss, debate […]

The Rochdale parliamentary by-election in northern England on 29 February could not have delivered a more emphatic rejection of the capitalist establishment and its tame politicians if it had been a scripted drama. George Galloway […]

On 8 March voters in the Republic of Ireland face two referenda to change the constitution. The ‘Family Amendment’ vote proposes to extend constitutional recognition to all families, not just those based on marriage. As […]

The shambolic end to the UK parliamentary debate on Gaza on Wednesday 21 February reflected the pressure being felt from the anti-war movement on the Tories and Labour, and the widespread anger at their refusal […]

The General Council (GC) is the Executive body of the Northern Ireland Public Services Alliance (NIPSA) which takes critical decisions on the actions and decisions of the union between conference. The election is an important […]

Economics Minister Robert Habeck, described the economic situation in Germany as “dramatically bad” after the growth forecasts for the economy were reduced from 1.2 to 0.3 per cent this year – after a year of […]

The left-wing Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) has announced its support for George Galloway’s ‘insurgent campaign’ against the establishment politicians in next week’s Rochdale by-election in Britain. The TUSC national chairperson Dave Nellist, a former […]

February 12th marked the 90th anniversary of a brief civil war in Austria, when workers attempted to defeat the mounting attacks of the then ‘Austrofascist’ government on the workers’ movement and democratic rights. The text […]

Just days after news from Russia of the imprisonment of Boris Kagarlitsky (https://www.socialistworld.net/2024/02/16/veteran-socialist-academic-condemned-to-five-years-in-russian-prison/) comes the report of the death in custody of Russia’s most famous political prisoner – 47-year-old Alexei Navalny, reportedly after taking exercise […]

Boris Kagarlitsky – the Russian sociologist, political scientist, self-declared Marxist, and socialist – is in jail after a court decided to change a “too soft” sentence to fine him into a five-year prison sentence. In […]

In an election held last October in Poland, with a historically high voter turnout of more than 74 percent, the previously ruling Law and Justice (PiS) – a right wing populist and nationalist party  – lost […]

Keir Starmer’s New Labour in Britain is on course to win the general election as the only available governmental alternative to prime minister Rushi Sunak’s hated Tory government. Nonetheless, millions will not be able to […]

Labour Winter Business Conference 2024, like last year’s British Labour Party conference, represented a further tightening of the ties between big business and the Labour leadership. Sponsored by HSBC and Bloomberg, £1,000 per head tickets […]

The decision by the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) to re-enter power-sharing arrangements at Stormont, after two years of boycott, followed claims by party leader Jeffrey Donaldson that he had secured major changes to proposed restrictions […]

What do the mass demonstrations against the AfD mean and how can the movement continue? An impressive wave of protests has developed in recent weeks against the strengthening of the AfD (see here). However, in […]

Strike action is rocking Finland, with 300,000 workers across almost all major unions taking action between 31 January and 2 February. The cause of the strike, the first explicitly political broad strike wave since 2015, […]

Well over a million people demonstrated against the far right Alternative for Germany (AfD) in January. Huge demonstrations of hundreds of thousands took place in Berlin, Hamburg, Munich and Cologne – so large that in […]

Hundreds of thousands of nurses, teachers, civil servants, and other public sector workers took strike action in Northern Ireland on 18 January in one of its biggest ever strikes. Below is the text of the […]

There is a large scale housing crisis in Scotland. A number of factors have coalesced, including continued local government cuts, the cost of living crisis and decisions taken by the Tories in Westminster, that mean […]

Hundreds of thousands people took to the streets of London and other towns and cities on 13 January 2024 in the first mass protests of the year against the ongoing slaughter of the Palestinians. The […]

Tragically our slogan on “No trust in Tata” has been borne out by the January 19 announcement that the two blast furnaces in Port Talbot will be shut down with potential job losses up to […]

Northern Ireland will see its biggest strike wave ever on 18 January, involving over 150,000 workers. Across the public sector, workers are demanding pay rises, as well as ensuring pay parity, where relevant, with public-sector […]

After the judgement of the German Federal Constitutional Court plunged the ‘traffic light’ government into another deep crisis, the heads of government have agreed on a draft budget for 2024. The draft is intended to […]

The Scottish National Party (SNP) – Scottish Green budget has delivered a devastating blow to public services in Scotland that were already locked into a spiralling crisis. An estimated £1.5 billion shortfall has been bridged […]

Internationally 2023 saw unimaginable horror being suffered by Palestinians in Gaza, the continuation of the grinding Ukraine war with hundreds of thousands of casualties, and a COP28 conference that failed to agree any proposals that […]

The war in Ukraine has been overlooked by much of the mainstream media during the last three months while the cruel bombardment of the Israeli state against the people of Gaza continues unabated. Nevertheless, the […]

In an unexpected turn of events, the Law Courts in Sweden ruled against Tesla’s CEO, Elon Musk, when he sued to make the Swedish postal workers handle the new number plates for the new Tesla […]

The third national conference of Sol – Socialist Organization Solidarity took place in Berlin from 8 to 10 December. One hundred delegates, members and guests from Germany, as well as international comrades, came together to […]

After a hard-fought campaign the results of the PCS general secretary and assistant general secretary elections have been announced. Fran Heathcote has been elected general secretary with 10,340 votes. Marion Lloyd, a Socialist Party member […]

In previous articles, we have described how the two Norwegian parties in the coalition government have lost popular mandates. The main party, the AP (Labour Party), has seen its support in Gallup polls drastically reduced. […]

Sinn Féin is consistently polling ahead in the Republic of Ireland, and in Northern Ireland it is the biggest party. When the Assembly is restored in the North, and in the aftermath of the next […]

Scottish revolutionary socialist John Maclean died a hundred years ago on 30 November 1923. As part of our occasional working-class history series, Brian McLelland of Socialist Party Scotland looks back at the events of Red […]

Socialism 2023 was a weekend attended by hundreds of people who want to change the world. Many have been involved in the strike wave. Many found out about the event on the anti-war demos – […]

After the start of the initial four-day Israeli ceasefire, aid workers who entered the Gaza Strip reported scenes of humanitarian catastrophe. Devastating injuries, overwhelmed hospitals, over 50,000 buildings destroyed or damaged, a dire shortage of […]

The ‘Partij Voor de Vrijheid’ (PVV) – known as the Freedom Party – won the biggest number of seats in the recent elections in the Netherlands. The PVV managed to win this as the other […]

Last Thursday’s knife attack against young children and a creche worker outside a Dublin city centre primary school horrified people across the country and beyond. But for the bravery of those people, who included a […]

On October 27, 1998, the first and so far only federal government consisting of the SPD and the Greens was elected. Gerhard Schröder became Chancellor, the former Bürgerschreck – or ‘terroriser of the bourgeoisie’ – […]

The vast majority of people are looking on in ever-growing horror as the destruction escalates in Gaza – as IDF forces assault al-Shifa Hospital and helicopters drop leaflets in south Gaza telling people to evacuate […]

There is yet another “strike week” in Austria – similar to last year, but with slightly different sectors involved. The metal industry which had held warning strikes last week is holding one day strikes in […]

‘Cruella’ Braverman is out! The anti-war movement – whose demonstrations she tried and failed to ban – has scored a victory! She has been ditched as Tory Home Secretary just 13 months after having been […]

Members  of the UNISON trade union in local government in Scotland voted to reject the previous COSLA (Convention of Scottish Local Authorities) pay offer with a near 90% majority on a high turnout just a […]

The horrific images of the Israeli state’s brutal assault on Gaza have sparked an intense debate across the trade union movement and in individual unions about the attitude the workers’ movement must take to the […]

The following statement (translated from German) regarding opposition to the Israeli state attack on Gaza has, so far, been signed by over 200 individuals and organisations in Germany, including trade unionists, Left Party members, and […]

Nominations have closed in the elections for Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) general secretary and AGS elections. In a stunning outcome, Socialist Party member Marion Lloyd, standing for general secretary with the support of […]

Northern Ireland Public Service Alliance (NIPSA) trade union members in Northern Ireland ports and meat plants have begun five days of hard-hitting strike action over the issue of pay. The action has raised the sights […]

The Scottish National Party (SNP) conference, took place earlier this month and was one of the smallest in years. Day one saw yet another retreat by the nationalist leadership on its strategy to achieve independence. […]

In supposedly peaceful Scandinavia, we have recently been witnessing mafia-like shootings, gang killings and even bombs exploding in the suburbs of Sweden. Many right-wing commentators are blaming refugees fleeing from war-torn countries. Socialists must put […]

And announces foundation of new party October 23 was the day on which Sahra Wagenknecht and nine other members of the Bundestag (German parliament) resigned from DIE LINKE (the Left party). At a press conference, […]

Earlier this month, elections were held in the German federal states of Hesse and Bavaria, and the result represents the next low blow for the ‘traffic light’ national government (Red for Social Democrats, Yellow for […]

Outside this year’s Tory conference in Manchester, 3,000 members of various health unions, mainly consultants and junior doctors, gathered. They set out their determination to keep up strike action throughout the autumn and winter if […]

The Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election was a massive vote of no confidence in the main pro-capitalist parties. Despite intense attention from the media and the political establishment, and major resources expended by Labour and […]

According to capitalist mainstream history, 1923 was the year of hyperinflation and the failed Hitler putsch. This narrative equates German history, first and foremost, with fascism. Yet 1923 was also the year that Germany was […]

The current strike wave, which erupted more than a year ago with national strike action by railworkers in the RMT union, marks the beginning of a new era in the class struggle in Britain. At last […]

Last week’s historic 3-day strike by over 22,000 members of the trade union, UNISON, in Scotland, working in schools and early years, was an expression of the pent up class anger felt by council workers […]

By 1983 , Militant, the predecessor of the Socialist Party (CWI England & Wales), was growing ever more influential, especially through the Labour Party Young Socialists (LPYS) and on Merseyside, as well as other places. […]

Last week, in just under 24 hours, Azerbaijani military forces overran the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave in the south Caucasus mountains, at the cost of around 200 lives. Since then, nearly 70,000 ethnic Armenians have fled the […]

A wave of student activism has swept over Finland as the Conservative-led government prepares to impose its first, austerity-led budget. Student groups have launched sit-in demonstrations at most universities and several technical colleges and upper […]

Over 330 National Union of Journalists (NUJ) members in over 100 National World newspapers and websites across Britain and Northern Ireland struck on 18 September. The company imposed a 4.5% pay rise. That is despite […]

It seems simpler to list the things which work in Britain in 2023 than to list what’s broken. Public services are literally crumbling. Prices everywhere for workers and young people continue to spiral above our […]

The local council and regional election results of the 10th of September 2023 in the nationwide elections in Norway was a clear defeat for the ruling coalition parties of the Norwegian Labour Party (AP) and […]

An indefinite strike at Ardo, a food processing and packaging plant, in Groß-Enzersdorf, near Vienna, is entering its second week. A warning strike was held on September 11, and the 150-strong workforce has now been […]

From 17 to 23 September, about 1,000 delegates at the ver.di national congress will discuss the future direction of the trade union. Ver.di is a public and service sector union and the second biggest in […]

All the opinion polls in Norway are predicting huge electoral gains for the Conservative opposition and the right wing ‘Popularists’, and huge losses for the Norwegian Labour party. On the 11th of September 2023, the […]

The death of the Russian warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin and other leaders of the Wagner group in an aircraft crash has intensified the tensions inside Vladimir Putin’s regime and the Russian state. So far, it is […]

Statistics recently published by the Trades Union Congress (TUC) show unemployment among black and minority ethnic (BAME) people was at 6.9% in 2022, over double the unemployment rate of white people – 3.2%. The unemployment […]

The age of austerity is clearly not over as capitalist politicians of all persuasions compete to manage economic crisis in the interest of the capitalist class. PAUL KERSHAW reviews a book that places economic austerity […]

The next UK government is likely to be a Labour government led by Keir Starmer. The huge lead that Starmer currently enjoys is not a vote of confidence in him, the current leadership of the […]

The Omagh bomb of 25 years ago was the end of any significant republican armed campaign in Ireland or elsewhere. The backlash ruled such out for many years. The Omagh bombing was one of the […]

The UK civil service trade union, PCS, is balloting its members on its response to a government pay offer. Socialist Party (CWI) members in PCS are part of the Broad Left Network (BLN), campaigning for […]

Facing a potential electoral landslide against them, the Tories are desperate. Hundreds of Tory MPs threatened with losing their jobs are desperately clawing to find a ledge to cling onto. Narrowly holding onto Boris Johnson’s […]

Scotland’s council workers are heading towards another autumn of strike action over this year’s annual pay rise. All three trade unions’ members overwhelmingly rejected an offer of 5.25% – 5.5%. Unite has returned strike majorities […]

Once Upon a Time in Northern Ireland, available on BBC iPlayer, is one of the outstanding documentaries on the conflict in Northern Ireland that is euphemistically known as the ‘Troubles’. Rather than an overarching narrative, […]

On Tuesday, July 25, Boris Kagarlitsky, a well-known left-wing university teacher in Moscow, was arrested. It appears as if a political purge is going on in the country. This arrest came only a few days […]

“Voters were pissed off with us”. That response of a Tory MP to two crushing by-election defeats on 20 July was putting it mildly. A 24% swing from the Tories to Labour in Selby and […]

Note: The  article below was written in May 2023,  by Tom Hoffman, a member of the German section of the CWI (Sol -Socialist Organisation Solidarity). From the end of last year, young Sol members, who […]

Up to 6,000 people joined last Wednesday’s “Zero Tolerance for Racism” march in central Helsinki, demanding the fall of the National Conservative/Basic Finns-led far-right coalition, just one month after it the government was formed. The […]

In May, the Oxford Union Debating Society, with its £150-a-year membership fee, met to discuss the class basis of politics. Dave Nellist, former Labour MP and now a member of the Socialist Party’s national committee, […]

Workers in Tara Mines in Navan, Ireland, have voted to accept the proposals from the management of the mine. This was recommended by the three unions representing the workers; SIPTU, Unite, and Connect, following negotiations […]

A year and a half after the “turning point” proclaimed by German Chancellor Scholz, not a day goes by without reports of disputes within the “traffic light” coalition ruling Germany, the right-wing populist AfD (Alternative […]

As we go to press, Rishi Sunak is trumpeting his upcoming ‘big’ announcement on the NHS. The idea that this out-of-touch millionaire head of a dysfunctional government and a party tearing itself apart can save […]

“Democratic capitalism” is in crisis, warns Martin Wolf, chief economics commentator at the Financial Times, in his new book. Such is the severity of this crisis its very survival is in question. Wolf confirms early […]

The news that Tara Mines, in Navan, Country Meath, has been placed under care and maintenance until further notice, with indefinite layoffs, has shocked the workers and local community and plunged them into great uncertainty. […]

During the month of May, two mass shootings took place in Serbia within two days. The first shooting was at a school in Belgrade, carried out by a 13 year old, who killed his school […]

Despite the mass strike and June’s explosive revolt, Macron is continuing to roll out his programme. The substance has not changed: attacking the living conditions of the majority of the population to allow the top […]

A crisis has hit RTE (Raidió Teilifís Éireann), the Irish state broadcaster, following revelations that undisclosed payments were made to its star presenter, Ryan Tubridy. RTE was forced to apologise after admitting that between 2017 […]

Nahel: another 17-year-old dead, after so many others: Alhoussein, Zineb, Adama, Cédric, Zyed, Bouna… Nahel’s death both shocks and revolts us. The policies of Macron and Darmanin (and Valls and Sarkozy before them) are constantly […]

‘Brilliant. And serious.’ ‘Exactly what’s needed at this point in time – now we need to get out there!’ These words were echoed by many of the hundreds in attendance at the conference of the […]

As expected, the second round of the Greek general election has resulted in the main party of Greek capitalism, New Democracy (ND), winning an outright majority. To the delight of capitalist commentators internationally, the result […]

In a dramatic turn of events last weekend, the Russian mercenary leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, staged an armed uprising only to turn his fighters back from a march on Moscow after a truce was struck with […]

Jonas Grampp is a member of the youth group of the Berlin region of the German Railway and Transport Union (EVG) and of the youth representative committee of DB Netz AG, the railway infrastructure division […]

The economic rush to the bottom and the callousness of capitalism is seen in the recent Greek boat tragedy. On 13 June, a boat carrying an estimated 750 refugees capsized. Seventy-eight are confirmed dead, while […]

Politics are hot and cold in Austria these days. The leadership race at the Austrian Social Democratic Party (SPÖ) June 3rd party congress saw the election, as Chair, of Andreas Babler, a former Socialist Youth […]

Far-right and fascist activity have not abated in Ireland over the past few months. Instead, it has intensified and widened. From Inch in Co. Clare to Portrush in Co. Antrim far-right forces increasingly feel confident […]

“Unite or die” because our party is facing an “existential threat”, Rishi Sunak, the British Prime Minister, warned the Tories nine months ago when he first became their leader and therefore – without the electorate […]

From its foundation, DIE LINKE (Left Party) was an amalgamation of political currents, some of which had contradictory ideas of left politics. Roughly speaking, one could for a long time speak of a left camp […]

Since 9 July 2021, a remarkable story of a working-class fightback has developed in Campi Bisenzio, on the industrial outskirts of Florence, Italy. On that day, the entire 500-strong workforce of GKN Driveline Firenze, a […]

At a time of increasing turmoil in the US and globally, Bernie Sanders has produced a devastating critique of capitalism. But unfortunately, not with a clear path to a real socialist and democratic alternative. This […]

Around 1,650 contractors across five companies are due to strike in June in the North Sea. The planned action is for two 48-hour strikes starting June 1 until June 3 and then June 8 to […]

The recent, and unfinished, crisis in the Scottish National Party raises questions about the future prospects for Scottish independence. PHILIP STOTT from Socialist Party Scotland (CWI Scotland) analyses current events and looks at where the […]

After the British Labour Party national executive committee voted 22-12 to ban its former left-wing leader, Jeremy Corbyn, from standing as a Labour candidate in the next general election, HANNAH SELL looks at the fight […]

On Monday 22 May, with trade unionists demonstrating outside parliament, Tory MPs voted the anti-strike ‘Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill’ through the House of Commons, meaning that is set to become law within weeks. Fire, […]

A 24-hour strike by BBC journalists in Northern Ireland was 100% solid on 19 May. Workers in the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) walked out on one of the busiest news days of the year […]

Sinn Féin, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and the Alliance Party emerged as the main winners in the recent local government elections in Northern Ireland. This shows a greater political polarisation taking place among nationalists […]

Sol – Sozialistische Organisation Solidarität (CWI Germany) mourns the death of National Committee member, Jan Horsthemke. We are sorry to announce that our Dortmund comrade and member of the Sol National Committee, Jan Horsthemke, decided […]

The first round of Greece’s 2023 general election took place on Sunday 21 May. The results gave no single party the overall majority needed to immediately form a government on their own. However, the main […]

In response to the article: ‘What are ‘the markets’ anyway?’ published in the Socialist issue 1209 we received an email from Cathy in Nottingham asking: “Could we have an article which explains how the markets, or […]

A debate in Germany over the Building Energy Act, the so-called “heat transition”, has been boiling up for weeks. The conservative CDU has announced that it will make the fight against this law an issue […]

Prepare for a workers’ stand in the general election People want ‘Tories out’. That is the bleedingly obvious lesson from the 4 May local election results. The Tories (i.e. the ruling Conservative Party) set their […]

With sustained strike action more would be possible! 500,000 workers took part in massive warning strikes. The turnout was higher than expected. 70,000 new members joined the ver.di trade union in the first three months […]

Editorial of the Socialist (issue 1225), paper of the Socialist Party (CWI England & Wales) “Lose trust in democracy and democracy dies. Lose trust in capitalism and it fails too.” This was the warning given […]

The mood of outrage across France at the pension age being raised is not subsiding. This is despite president Macron desperately trying to put it in the past, following it being pushed into law using […]

‘Traffic light’ government quarrels and quarrels and quarrels…. When the first ever three-party coalition formed a German government in autumn 2021, big words were said. It would be a “progress coalition” that would face the […]

In Austria, like in other countries, the multiple crises of capitalism have led to an increase in instability, speed of events and polarisation. It is hard to keep up with events these days.  With the […]

The Norwegian TUC (LO) called off a ‘general strike’, thus leaving workers to pay for the cost of living crisis that is not their fault. The LO is calling the agreement with employers a victory […]

Since his election in 2019 to Fermanagh and Omagh District Council, in Northern Ireland, Cross-community Labour Alternative Councillor Donal O’ Cofaigh has rarely been absent from local press offering a socialist take on issues as […]

On Sunday 16 April, Norway’s main trade union confederation, LO, announced it had broken off talks with the employers’ organisation (NHO) over pay. The main trade union organisations are now out on a ‘general strike’. […]

Activists from Sozialistische Organisation Solidarität (Sol – CWI in Germany), the Forum of Trade Union Lefts in Berlin, the International Commission of the IG Metall Berlin (metal workers’ trade union) and RIO (Revolutionary Internationalist Organisation), […]

The crisis in the Scottish National Party (SNP), triggered by the resignation of party leader and Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, on 15 February, shows no sign of abating. Falling opinion poll ratings, the clashes […]

And why it has not overcome sectarian divisions On the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, Niall Mulholland explains the origins of the ‘peace process’, and why the fundamental problems underpinning […]

The Labour National Executive Committee (NEC)’s decision, by 22-12, that Jeremy Corbyn ‘will not be endorsed as a Labour Party candidate at the next general election’ was the latest demonstration by Starmer that his ‘New […]

As the curtain falls on Sanna Marin’s tenure as prime minister of Finland, the need for a mass working-class socialist party in Finland to provide an alternative to capitalist stagnation and militarism has seldom been […]

The day before the March 2023 meeting of Labour’s National Executive, Labour leader Keir Starmer declared to the press that he would be putting a motion to the meeting reiterating his insistence that Jeremy Corbyn, […]

Humza Yousef, the favoured candidate of the party establishment, has been elected as the new leader of the Scottish National Party. He will now also be the Scottish government’s First Minster at Holyrood. His victory, […]

On Monday, 27th March, tens of thousands railway and public sector workers came together in a “mega strike“. This action brought large parts of Germany’s public transport system to a halt. It was the first […]

President Macron has officially passed his pension-busting law in France by a legal power grab, using articles 49-3. This despite more than two months of strikes and demonstrations this winter, involving millions of workers.  The […]

The movement in France has become decisive. Two months have passed since the first strike day against the government’s continued attempt to attack pensions. The movement on the streets is still very strong, and support […]

As tens of thousands of workers brought much of London to a standstill on 15 March – alongside hundreds of thousands more, around 600,000 striking in total – chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced his something-of-a-nothing budget. […]

Macron and his Elizabeth Borne-led government, unsure whether they would have a majority, have finally resorted to using article 49-3 of the Constitution to force through the breakup of pensions without a vote of the […]

At the start of this year, a new socialist youth organisation, Youth for Socialism (JfS), was founded in Germany by members of the Socialist Organisation – Solidarity (Sol, German section of the CWI), together with […]

New forces joined the fray for the biggest day yet in Britain’s strike wave, on Budget Day 15 March. Junior doctors in the British Medical Association (BMA) walked out for the first time since 2016, […]