Europe

The extreme weather conditions of the last few days have reached unimaginable proportions in the German federal states of Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia, as well as in Belgium, the Netherlands and other neighbouring countries. Up […]

With a record 66% abstention rate, the French regional and departmental elections of 20 and 27 June obviously did not excite the mass of the population. And it cannot be said that they give a […]

Labour managed to narrowly hold onto to Batley and Spen in the parliamentary by-election on 1 July, scraping in by 323 votes. The Labour leadership is sighing with relief. In reality, however, this result is […]

In Germany, the Green party is riding a wave of popularity. Following the selection of Annalena Baerbock as its candidate for Chancellor (Prime Minister), it hit 28% in the opinion polls. Since 2019 the Greens […]

With Pride Month closing at the end of June, Militant Left (CWI Ireland), look at the struggle that the LGBTQ+ community continues to face today. The first pride was a riot. The Stonewall riots began […]

The NHS protests around the country on 3 July should be the start of building a mass campaign for decent pay and to save the NHS. Well over a million people work in the NHS. […]

The parliamentary elections taking place in Germany at the end of September will mark an end of an era. Having governed in various government constellations since 2005, Angela Merkel is not standing again. Generally, the […]

Left candidate, Carmel Gates, has won the election for the General Secretary position in Northern Ireland’s largest union NIPSA (Northern Ireland Public Service Alliance) gaining 44% of the vote. Her nearest contender won 34%, and […]

In April of this year, the Ministry of Justice released a report responding to the ‘growing mental health crisis’ for women in prison. It revealed that there was a 13% rise in the number of […]

The result of the election for the General Secretary position, in Northern Ireland Public Services Alliance (NIPSA), Northern Ireland’s largest union, will become known on June 25th. The left candidate, Carmel Gates, has mounted a […]

Balloting for the post of General Secretary of the Northern Ireland Public Services Alliance (NIPSA), the largest trade union in Northern Ireland, opened at the end of May. The left candidate is Carmel Gates, who […]

Up to 200 striking workers, trade union reps, campaigners and socialists met virtually on 20 June as the National Shop Stewards Network (NSSN) held its 2021 summer conference. The NSSN conference is the biggest annual […]

The World for Sale: Money, Power and the Traders Who Barter the Earth’s Resources is an impressive, illuminating analysis of the corrosive rottenness and the corruption of ‘modern’ world capitalism. It couldn’t have come at […]

Edwin Poots, the leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), the largest party in N Ireland, resigned last night, just three weeks after he won the position. This is the latest twist in the ongoing […]

In a recent landmark ruling, the Upper Tribunal – responsible for judicial reviews of the UK’s Home Office decisions – has proposed new ‘country guidance’ used for determining asylum cases of refugees from Sri Lanka. […]

It took a vote in Westminster in 2019, initiated by right-wing backbench Labour MP Stella Creasy and backed by virtually all the right-wing parties in that chamber, to vindicate the rights of women in Northern […]

When Sebastian Kurz of the conservative ‘People’s Party’ (ÖVP) won the 2017 elections he was voted in as Chancellor as someone who stood for “change”. He had revamped his party, virtually renamed it, changed its […]

Dramatic events a week ago (Sunday 23 May) saw a Ryanair flight from Greece to Lithuania forced to land in Belarus. The military operation has been described as an unprecedented ‘hijacking’ and has seen European […]

6 May 2021 saw the election of a majority of Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) committed to a second referendum on Scottish independence. Is an independent Scotland now inevitable? How will Boris Johnson and […]

“Boris Johnson’s withdrawal agreement with the European Union, which would “effectively leave Northern Ireland within the EU’s economic jurisdiction” following the UK’s exit, “will dangerously escalate sectarian tensions; spilling over into Britain too as in […]

Thursday, May 13 will go down in Glasgow history. Attempts by the Home Office to detain two Indian men – chef Sumit Sehdev and mechanic Lakhvir Singh – prior to deportation, provoked a massive community […]

Almost every evening on the Norwegian National Television (NRK) there are reports of the small farmers and workers in revolt. They are seen blocking motorways and roads with their tractors or dumping manure on the […]

Education Welfare Officers (EWOs) in Northern Ireland work to make sure children from disadvantaged households or vulnerable backgrounds don’t lose out on getting an education through absenteeism. They also have a particular role in supporting […]

Following a highly polarised Scottish election, the Scottish National Party (SNP) will again form the new government at Holyrood. By winning 64 Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) – one short of a majority – […]

The postponement of the 2020 elections meant that 6 May 2021 was a bumper election day, including more than 4,000 council seats, thirteen directly-elected mayors, the London assembly, plus the Scottish parliament and Welsh Senedd. […]

Nordic paper and wood products giant, Stora Enso, announced on 20 April that it plans to close two paper mills – the Vesiluoto mill in Kemi, Lapland, and the Kvarnsveden mill in Börlange, central Sweden. […]

Following a highly polarized and bitter election campaign, the right-wing party, Partido Popular (PP), has emerged victorious in the elections in Madrid. Led by the far-right figure, Isabel Ayuso, the PP emerged as the winners, […]

“A carnival of reaction” Today, 3 May 2021, is officially marked as the hundredth anniversary of the creation of Northern Ireland. With sectarian tensions rising once again, the real history of the tumultuous decades leading […]

Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, made his ‘State of the Nation’ speech on 21st April as protest demonstrations were taking place across Russia. In April last year, his annual address had included an announcement about a […]

Capitalism is increasingly reminiscent of what is called a ‘Royal Rumble’ in professional wrestling. In this sport what is happening in the ring becomes more and more confusing due to the arrival of more and […]

The importance of building a socialist alternative in elections has long been recognised by Socialist Party Scotland. We are currently helping to pioneer the Scottish Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition’s challenge for the Scottish parliamentary […]

In the early hours of Friday, 23 April, Gardaí [Irish police] at the behest of big business, KPMG/Debenhams, forcibly removed former Debenhams retail workers and their supporters, including Militant Left (CWI Ireland) members, from a […]

Corrupt politicians with their snouts in the trough are nothing new. From ‘cash for questions’ under Tory prime minister John Major, to ‘honours’ for business people under New Labour leader Tony Blair, and then the […]

More than 1.5 million Berlin households have been dealt a blow by the Federal Constitutional Court. At the request of 284 Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) and Free Democratic Party (FDP) members of the […]

A massive build-up of Russian forces on the borders of Ukraine last week saw the US president, Joe Biden, move swiftly to suggest a summit meeting with Vladimir Putin in the coming months. This was […]

Rail strikes stopped travel in the Finnish capital area on 18-19 March and again on 9 April, as conductors stopped work in separate protests over potential job cuts and imposition of worse working conditions. Tero […]

Images of young people rioting in Belfast and elsewhere, countered by police using water cannon, conjured up scenes from the period of the ‘Troubles’. From the point of view of international audiences, Northern Ireland appears […]

Labour Party leader, Keir Starmer, launched the party’s campaign for the May local and mayoral elections in England on March 11 by majoring on Boris Johnson’s plan for a 1% rise-but-real-terms-pay-cut for nurses and other […]

April 2021 marks the 40th anniversary of the riots in Brixton, south London, against police racism, unemployment, and poverty. Today, the report from the Tory government’s Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities dismisses systemic racism […]

The report by the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities has concluded that claims of institutional racism are “not borne out” and that the UK should be seen as “a model for other white-majority countries”. […]

The recent Revolutionary Internationalist Socialist and Environmentalist (RISE) and People Before Profit (PBP) merger in Ireland attracted media attention. People Before Profit now has four TDs [members of Dail – the Irish parliament], one Member […]

On 27 and 28 March, the Socialist Party’s national committee met to discuss political developments in Britain and the tasks of the Socialist Party in the coming months. While the Covid pandemic continues to ravage […]

On 23 March, the Court of Appeal exonerated my clients Ricky Tomlinson, Arthur Murray and the ‘Shrewsbury 24.’ They were trade unionists arrested for their involvement in the 1972 national builders’ strike. In 1973, Ricky […]

It took a vote in Westminster in 2019, initiated by right-wing backbench Labour MP Stella Creasy and backed by virtually all the right-wing parties in that chamber, to vindicate the rights of women in Northern […]

The launch of a new pro-independence political party – Alba – by former Scottish National Party (SNP) leader Alex Salmond has dominated the news agenda over the last few days. It comes in the immediate […]

The coming Scottish Parliament elections are poised to open up a new crisis for the Tory Boris Johnson government at Westminster, with the break-up of the United Kingdom a possible ultimate outcome. In edited extracts […]

The British Tory government’s ‘factsheet’ on the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill explains that it will “strengthen police powers to tackle non-violent protests that have a significant disruptive effect on the public or on […]

The challenge to the London Metropolitan Police’s ban on a vigil in the memory of Sarah Everard, who was abducted and murdered last week, was rejected in the high court on Friday 12 March. The […]