The vote on the Tories’ welfare reform bill, which would see £12 billion cut from the welfare budget, has revealed the depths of servility to which the Blairite leaders of the Labour Party like Harriet Harman are prepared to stoop. This issue has burst open the abscess at the heart of the Labour Party leadership, exposing the depth of rottenness that has set in: 184 members shamefully abstained on the Tory proposals. Meanwhile a fifth of the parliamentary party, 48 MPs, including many of the 2015 intake, rejected the leadership’s stance in one of the biggest Labour rebellions in recent years.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. And so it is that after a week of frothing at the mouth and spewing forth a torrent of bile and vitriol, the New Labour acolytes have finally called forward their Messiah to try and push back the surging Corbyn tide. Unfortunately for these Tories in disguise, the intervention of their Dear Leader will not have the intended effect. So hated is the war criminal Blair, and so patronising and condescending is his “advice” to Labour members, that his contribution in the debate will only push further layers into supporting Jeremy in his leadership bid.

To the shock and surprise of the Blairites, Jeremy Corbyn has emerged as the frontrunner in the race to become the next leader of the Labour Party. At the time of writing Jeremy has secured the nominations of 70 constituency Labour parties, ahead of the ‘favourite’ Andy Burnham at 67, with Yvette Cooper on 58 and the arch Blairite Liz Kendall trailing at 12. At the same time a leaked private poll of party members has shown Jeremy to have a commanding lead of 15 points over his three right-wing opponents.

The bankers and capitalists of Europe have stamped their iron heel down on the people of Greece. Despite the democratic decision of the Greek people to oppose the nightmare of austerity – overwhelmingly in both the January general election and the recent referendum - the dictatorship of big business has said “No!” The Greek people must endure a new Versailles Treaty, where chunks of the country will be sold off to the highest bidder. Faced with decades of penury, they are being systematically turned into a semi-colony.

A new Tory Government was never going to mean a new era of peace and harmony, especially under the social and economic conditions prevailing today.

An extremely successful academic year for the Marxist societies at British Universities was brought to a close with an equally successful weekend of inspiring discussions at REVOLUTION 2015, organised by Socialist Appealand the Marxist Student Federation between 26-28^th June. Over 80 students and youth participated over the weekend, contributing enthusiastically in the debates and discussions about the revolutionary ideas of Marxism.

The news that the national executive of Unite, Britain’s largest union, has come out in support of Jeremy Corbyn’s campaign to become Labour leader will be welcomed by both Labour members and trade unionists. Corbyn has also received the backing of ASLEF, RMT, FBU, and BFAWA trade unions, and from the Socialist Education Association. Other unions and organisations - particularly the other big unions of Unison and GMB - must now also act to reflect the will of their members and follow suit.

We have received the following report about the mood amongst the Greek masses from a British comrade who has been in Greece over the past few days.

Luke Wilson, a Labour Party and Unite the Union member, examines the programme and position of Jeremy Corbyn, the left-wing Labour MP, whose campaign for the Labour leadership is gathering momentum on the basis of his anti-austerity, anti-war stance. How do we really fight the cuts and campaign against oppression and war internationally?

Saturday’s End Austerity Now demonstrations defied all expectations. Prior to these events, the protest’s organisers, the People’s Assembly Against Austerity – a national coalition of local community campaigns, trade unions, and activist groups – had estimated that the attendance in London would be between 50,000 and 100,000. In the end, police estimates for the London demonstration alone gave a figure of around 250,000, with likely numbers exceeding this. Thousands more took to the streets in Liverpool and Glasgow. From the title of the protest to the placards on display and the slogans being shouted, the message was loud and clear: we reject your austerity!

To the shock and surprise of mainstream political commentators, Jeremy Corbyn, the left-wing Labour MP, has emerged as the clear winner in the first televised Labour leadership hustings. 82% of respondents on an online poll by the Daily Mirror considered Jeremy to have won the debate. Even the arch Tory paper, the Daily Telegraph was forced to admit he ‘wowed the audience with his Left-wing agenda’.

Jeremy Corbyn, the left wing Labour MP, has got on the ballot paper for Labour leader. This is a remarkable and welcome turn of events, despite being achieved by the slimmest of margins.

“People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices.” Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations, 1776.

On 27th May, the Queen announced, on behalf of the new Tory government, the latest vicious attacks on workers, youth, and the poor that can be expected in the coming period: a raft of cuts to benefits, particularly aimed at young people; the depletion of the publicly owned housing stock, relied upon by those most in need; and the most serious assault on trade union rights in decades. The scene is now set for an intense class struggle in the period ahead.

Reformism in a time of capitalist crisis resembles “windmills whose sails turn in a strong wind but fail to produce a single pound of flour because there is no corn for them to grind” (Trotsky, Notes on the Situation in Britain 1925-6). The ‘ideas’ and policies on offer in the Labour leadership election are as empty as the corn silos of capitalism are bare, and there is zero prospect of anything of substance emerging from Labour in this leadership election.