According to the French trade unions over one million people came out onto the streets on March 31 in over two hundred and fifty cities across France. One hundred and twenty thousand in Marseille, a hundred thousand in Toulouse and tens of thousands in the capital.

Workers in Port Talbot have been shocked by the decision of Tata management to sell off its steel plant. Workers in other areas have also been affected. Despite all the sacrifice and hard work put in by the workers, they have been once again rewarded with a kick in the teeth. The pain in the community cannot be overstressed, with the century-old industry on its last legs.

On Sunday an official state ceremony was held in Dublin to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the 1916 Easter Rising. The officials present, including the men of the Church, represent a class that did not support the Rising in 1916, but who now wish to present themselves as heirs to that heroic struggle. Here Alan Woods exposes the utter hypocrisy of these people and recalls what the Rising was really about.

At midnight on Saturday, March 19, the EU-Turkey agreement on refugees came into effect. Refugee processing hotspots on the Greek island were emptied, aid agencies and volunteers expelled, and the open migrant centres became closed detention facilities where refugees will be prepared for deportation to Turkey. This is a shameful agreement, quite possibly in violation of international law, which reveals the extreme callousness of the racist, capitalist European Union. To cap it all, while the Middle-East remains in turmoil, these reactionary measures will do little to stem the flow of migrants.

Yet again we saw this morning the ruthless killing of innocent people as they went about their daily lives. Marxists condemn such acts of terror, in the same way that they condemn the killing of thousands of people in Syria and other war-torn countries. The point is: what can be done to put an end to this barbarism?

The resignation of Ian Duncan Smith as Work and Pensions secretary represents the clearest example yet of the growing divisions emerging inside the Tory party. Duncan Smith, or IDS as he likes to be known as, was no disgruntled minor minister but a senior member of the Tory government cabinet and a former leader of the party.

We publish here a document written by the British Marxists of Socialist Appeal. The document analyses the explosive economic and political situation developing in Britain. In this first part, we look at the decline of British capitalism and the radicalisation taking place in society due to years of austerity.

On March 9th half a million workers and youth took to the streets throughout France, protesting against the “socialist” government's’ unprecedented attack on the labour laws. This was followed by further protests on March 17th.

A political earthquake is shaking Germany as the right-wing racist AfD ("Alternative for Germany") scored startling two-digit election results in recent local and state elections.

As the EU’s ongoing political and economic crisis enters a new and potentially decisive phase, parts of the ruling class are beginning to question whether the Union’s strategic goal of “ever closer union” can really be achieved, and some are doubtful as to whether it would even be desirable.

As the crisis of capitalism deepens, all that was once solid is melting to air. The European Union, designed to strengthen European capitalism against the crushing dominance of the world market, is now unravelling at the seams.

In 2015, roughly 1.5 million migrants and refugees were estimated to have arrived in Europe from various countries, particularly Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq. Images of desperate people massing at train stations, struggling with police or worse have filled our newspapers and television screens on an almost daily basis as the terrible humanitarian crisis unfolds.

The 13th of February 2016 is likely to go down in history as the awakening of the working class and the beginning of the class struggle in 21st century Hungary. Tens of thousands of people gathered in front of the Hungarian Parliament building demanding the abandonment of all educational “reforms” of the last 5 years.  In spite of pouring rain thousands and thousands marched proudly, showing concern not just for education, but for the health service, for transport, against corruption and what is now commonly called the “mafia state”.

As in Britain, millions of Americans have been battered by the economic crisis, suffering from low-paid jobs and falling living standards. As in Britain, despite the crisis, there are grotesque and rising levels of wealth and income concentrated just in the hands of America’s billionaire elite.

With the endless coverage of Labour in-fighting in the media one could be forgiven for assuming that the rest of British politics was a sea of tranquillity. But over the last few months the burgeoning split in the Tory Party over the question of the EU has burst to the surface.