Europe

As we put this article online, the Blair government has launched a new offensive against the firefighters. Deputy Prime Minister Prescott has announced his intention to change the law to take direct control of the fire service and impose a settlement on the firefighters. This would mean the imposition of the Bain proposals, the derisory pay offer of 4% and thousands of job cuts, resulting in the closure of fire stations and the undermining of the fire service. Such measures are a threat to the entire labour movement, and must be answered by the movement as a whole.

Two Motherwell (Scotland) train drivers refused to move a freight train carrying ammunition believed to be destined for British forces being deployed in the Gulf. This militant and courageous stand was reminiscent of the actions against General Pinochet back in the 1970s and the Jolly George incident in 1920. Railway managers cancelled the Ministry of Defence (MoD) service after the crewmen, described as "conscientious objectors" by a supporter, said they opposed Tony Blair's threat to attack Iraq.

The weekend of 18 and 19 January thousands of people all over the world protested against the impending war in Iraq. In Belgium there was a demonstration with about 10,000 participants that took to the streets on Sunday. Various NGOs, immigrants' organisations, left groups and parties and delegations of trade unions were present.

Filip Staes reports on last weekend's antiwar demonstration in Brussels and on the 'shipspotting' activities of the Anti-War Committees set up by the supporters of Vonk in Antwerp. Antwerp has grown in importance for the war effort as a large part of the military hardware for the Gulf is transported through this port.

On Sunday, January 12, 2003, 100,000 people came to the Berlin socialist memorial cemetery in the Eastern suburb of Friedrichsfelde to commemorate the murder of Rosa and Karl. On the day prior to the big demonstration, the German left wing daily, Junge Welt held their traditional Rosa Luxemburg conference which this time attracted well over 1100 people - considerably more than in previous years. This year, the speeches and debates centred around the question of imperialism and war. As we reported last week, one of the main speakers in the first session was Alan Woods from In Defence of Marxismwho spoke on...

There are periods in history that represent a fundamental change in the whole world situation. We are now living in just such a period. Just over ten years have passed since the fall of the Soviet Union - ten years that seem to be a hundred years! For in that very short space of time the world has lived through a fundamental transformation.

After nearly 30 years of partition the United Nations have come up with the Annan Plan to try and solve the Cyprus problem and reunite the island. We will soon be publishing an article by a Greek Marxist on this question. For now suffice it to say that again illusions are being raised that the UN can solve the problem. Again, as thirty years ago these illusions will be dashed. As a helpful introduction to the question we are making available an article by Ted Grant on the events that unfolded in Cyprus in 1974. It was originally published in two parts on September 20 and 27, 1974.

Barbara Humphries continues her series on the history of the Labour Party with a look at the experience of the first two Labour governments. This article was originally published in Socialist Appeal, issue 49 March 1997.

Barbara Humphries continues her series on the history of the Labour Party. 1945 marked a watershed for Labour and for British society. The Labour Party won an historic victory, with a 146-seat majority over all other parties. It was won on the most radical election manifesto, before or since. This article was originally published in Socialist Appeal, issue 50 April 1997.

In this last article in her series on the History of the Labour Party, Barbara Humphries looks at how the turn to the left in the 1970s was cut across and how the present Blairite clique came to dominate the party, and draws the lessons for today's activists. The present turn to the right is nothing new in the party's history. As in the past it will be followed by a turn to the left.

This is the first of a series of articles on the history of the British Labour Party. These articles will help workers and youth to get a greater understanding of what the Labour Party is and what the attitude of Marxists to it should be. In this article we look at how the Party emerged from the struggles of the working class towards the end of the 19th and at the beginning of the 20th centuries.

Last May’s strikes forced the then government into a compromise over wage levels. Since then the government has fallen and a new government has come to power. Now as the economic situation worsens a new strike wave is spreading across Macedonia.

On November 17 we published an article on the crisis in the British Conservative Party, Tories in Crisis - The Plots Thicken. The purpose of the article was to show how the Tories' crisis, and especially the crisis of their leadership, is an expression of the crisis of the capitalist system, which affects all classes in society. We explained how the 'Old Guard' of the Tories would prefer the leader of the party to be elected by the MPs and not the rank and file, because the present rank and file are so right wing and out of touch with the real needs of the ruling class. The latest statements of some of the old guard Tory leaders...