Alan Woods, editor of In Defence of Marxism, discusses the historic political crisis taking place in Britain, as the Tory Prime Minister's fate hangs in the balance. As Alan notes, the UK was once considered one of the most stable countries in the world. But now it is a source of enormous instability for world capitalism. And the crisis is not confined to Britain. May, Macron, and Merkel are all facing huge difficulties at home, as the broken status quo collapses around them. Only the call for a socialist Europe can offer a way forward.

On Monday evening, Macron gave a televised speech in an attempt to placate the yellow vest movement that now threatens his government. The following day, its contents were scrutinised and debated among all who have mobilised in recent weeks. The verdict: "smoke and mirrors". In particular, "the increase of the minimum wage by 100 euros" includes the automatic revaluation of the minimum wage scheduled for January 2019, in addition to an increase in the "activity premium" supplement, which will not cost employers one cent – and will not be taken into account when calculating pension entitlements.

上周末（12月8日），法国的黄背心运动以另一轮大规模抗议行动进入了第四幕。虽然官方报道参与抗议的人数为十三万左右，但实际人数可能达到五十万人。这一次，政府方面的反应却也更加的残暴，在法国各地动员了八万九千名员警来试图阻止黄背心参与者发起和平或其他性质的抗议，导致了两千馀人遭到逮捕。

上週末（12月8日），法國的黃背心運動以另一輪大規模抗議行動進入了第四幕。雖然官方報道參與抗議的人數為十三萬左右，但實際人數可能達到五十萬人。這一次，政府方面的反應卻也更加的殘暴，在法國各地動員了八萬九千名員警來試圖阻止黃背心參與者發起和平或其他性質的抗議，導致了兩千餘人遭到逮捕。

Today was supposed to be the moment of truth, when Parliament voted on Theresa May’s ‘precious’ Brexit deal. But, at the 11th hour, the Prime Minister postponed her judgment day and announced that the vote was to be put on hold. A new decision date has not been set. But time is rapidly running out for British capitalism.

The yellow vest movement entered its “fourth act” this weekend, with another round of radical protests by well over the officially cited 130,000 people (possibly as many as 500,000). This time, the state response was even more brutal, with 89,000 gendarmes mobilised across France in an attempt to prevent the yellow vests from demonstrating – peacefully or otherwise – resulting in over 2,000 arrests.

Following the motion (submitted by our comrades) that passed with strong majorities at student assemblies at l'université Paul-Valéry-Montpellier and Toulouse, another extremely radical resolution has been adopted by the Paris Nanterre University. It declares the university on strike, lays out a series of demands against Macron's educational counter-reforms, states its solidarity with the yellow vests, condemns police repression, calls for Macron's resignation and puts the word out for a delegate conference of representatives from Paris universities to

The social and political situation in France is moving at a breakneck speed. In less than a month, the ‘yellow vests’ movement has put the country on the threshold of a revolutionary crisis. In the coming days, this threshold could be crossed. What will be the decisive factor in pushing the movement forward?

（以下译文为“女神读书会翻译组”原译由国际马克思主义趋势组织法国支部网站Révolution於2018年11月20日所发表的文章，经“保卫马克思主义”网站中文版编辑稍加修改後发表）
译者：（女神读书会翻译组）夏尔梨

（以下譯文為“女神讀書會翻譯組”原譯由國際馬克思主義趨勢組織法國支部網站Révolution於2018年11月20日所發表的文章，經“保衛馬克思主義”網站中文版編輯稍加修改後發表）
譯者：（女神讀書會翻譯組）夏爾梨

（以下译文为“女神读书会翻译组”原译由国际马克思主义趋势组织法国支部网站Révolution於2018年12月5日所发表的文章，经“保卫马克思主义”网站中文版编辑稍加修改後发表）
译者：（女神读书会翻译组）夏尔梨

（編按：以下譯文為“女神讀書會翻譯組”原譯由國際馬克思主義趨勢組織法國支部網站Révolution於2018年12月5日所發表的文章，經“保衛馬克思主義”網站中文版編輯稍加修改後發表）
譯者：（女神讀書會翻譯組）夏爾梨

Karl Marx once remarked to Friedrich Engels, his lifelong friend and collaborator, that there were sometimes uneventful decades in which years passed as though they were just days. But, he added, “these may be again succeeded by days into which years are compressed”. The current period in Britain is like the latter. Events are moving at a blistering pace.

The strategists of British capitalism are getting jittery. Even the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, is worried. Capitalism is having a bad time of it. Conservatives, he said, should continue to make the case for the market economy — a model which had evolved “down the ages”. “This mission is urgent,” he stated recently. But why the urgency?

The following motion has been passed by student members of Révolution (the IMT in France) at a general assembly at l'université Paul-Valéry-Montpellier. It has also be raised at a student assembly in Toulouse (to be voted on today), and will be raised in Nanterre and Lyon. It states support for the yellow vest movement, and calls for a campaign of strikes to overthrow the hated Macron government.