Europe

The Tory victories in the local elections on May 1st mean that the Conservatives will almost certainly go on to win the next general election and form the next government. Theoretically the Labour leadership could turn the situation round, but they seem incapable of changing their disastrous course. New Labour is in meltdown.

May 1968 was the greatest revolutionary general strike in history. This mighty movement took place at the height of the post-war economic upswing in capitalism. Then, as now, the bourgeois and their apologists were congratulating themselves that revolutions and class struggle were things of the past. Then came the French events of 1968, which seemed to drop like a thunderbolt from a clear blue sky. They took most of the Left completely by surprise, because, they had all written off the European working class as a revolutionary force.

In looking back at the Good Friday Agreement, Gerry Ruddy points out that it has served to stabilise British rule in the North as Sinn Fein has been absorbed into the establishment. In this situation he stresses the need for republican socialists to focus on working class and socialist policies.

A powerful public sector strike over pay has hit Denmark. The striking workers have huge support among the population and the right-wing conservative is coming under huge pressure.

Present-day economic conditions demand that the working class fight back. The interests of the ruling class and the working class are irreconcilable. The bourgeois are screaming, "more cuts, more cuts" and the workers shout back "Enough is enough". The stage has been set for a "Hot Spring" in Europe.

After six months of struggle, 18 days of strike action and on the first day of their all out strike for a reduction in working hours, the bus drivers of Barcelona have achieved an important victory. And they won as a result of their united mobilisation, based on mass workers' assemblies taking all decisions, and coordinated through an elected committee.

The canton Ticino, that part of Switzerland which speaks Italian, and that everyone considers a model of social peace and serenity, has been shaken by a trade union struggle that has no comparison in the recent history of the country. It is the struggle of a very militant section of the Ticino working class, the railway maintenance workers.

Portuguese capitalism is one of the sick men of Europe. The "cure" the capitalists have in mind involves severe attacks on wages and working conditions. But now a backlash is taking place with huge strikes and demonstrations shaking the country, which is also producing radicalisation on the left.

On April 5 while the EU finance ministers and bankers were meeting in Brdo pri Kranju (Slovenia) 35,000 workers from all over Europe marched through Ljubljana demanding higher wages as inflation eats into their living standards. A delegation of the IMT from Austria, Italy and Switzerland was present.

A recent bulletin of the European Central Bank (ECB) dealt with the causes of recent increases in the rate of inflation within the "Eurozone". It is no surprise to find that what they are concerned about are wage increases. Like the high priests in the past they try to cover up reality and make us believe in a fantasy world.

This Saturday, April 5, European finance ministers will hold a meeting in Ljubljana, Slovenia. The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) has called for a demonstration to demand better wages and conditions for workers in Europe on the same day. Supporters of the International Marxist Tendency from Italy, Austria and Switzerland will join the protest and give out the following leaflet in five different languages (English, Slovenian, Italian,...

At a recent public meeting in London a couple of hecklers were attacking John McDonnell for being a member of the Labour Party. A veteran trade union activist answered them by comparing the Labour Party with a house that has been overrun by rats. The task of the working class is to clean up the house and get possession of it once again.

This British Perspectives draft document (2008) is part of a wide-ranging discussion about the likely development of events in British society. It looks at the crisis of capitalism worldwide and how this affects British capitalism and also looks at how this impacts on the trade union movement and the political situation as a whole.

After the Easter 1916 uprising the actual class conditions that motivated the likes of James Connolly and the trade unionists who set up the Irish Citizen's Army to battle capitalism were written out of history. Radical ideas were demonised and Connolly's Marxism was airbrushed from history.

For the interest of our readers we publish a speech delivered by Paul Little (of the IRSP Ard Comhairle) on Sunday, 23rd March, at the Republican Socialist Plot, Milltown Cemetery, Belfast. He explains that the aim of the IRSP is “to oust imperialism, oust capitalism in all its guises and end the occupation and exploitation of the Irish working class.”