The flurry of articles in the Irish press over the last few days attacking the Croke Park Deal should not come as any surprise. However, it is noteworthy that these ladies and gentlemen chose the days after the referendum vote to start putting the boot in. After all, it would have been highly inconvenient and counterproductive to attack a large section of the voters who might draw the conclusion that the government parties Yes campaign was merely trying to set the austerity programme of the last few years into stone.

As the elections approach in Greece we are publishing the first part of a contribution by the Marxists of Syriza to the discussion on what programme the party needs to adopt in order to put an end to the draconian austerity measures being imposed on the Greek workers and youth.

The Irish Times reports that as soon as the result of the referendum on the treaty appeared to be in the bag, Enda Kenny was on the phone to Angela Merkel presumably for a pat on the head as he reported on the completion of his mission. However, an Taoiseach and to a much greater extent Eamon Gilmore should be concerned about the concentration of No votes in the working class areas of Dublin and the border areas in the North West.

Forty years ago, in 1972, Britain faced a sharp and qualative change and teetered on the verge of a general strike for the first time in nearly 50 years. A wave of factory occupations and sit-ins had swept the country.  More than 23 million days were lost in strike action, excluding 4 million lost through political strikes. Only once, in the revolutionary year of 1919, was the number of days lost greater. The Tories, in a pamphlet misnamed In Defence of Peace, were already digesting the writings of Brigadier Kitson, who urged the army to be prepared for civil unrest. The spectre of revolution was once again beginning to haunt Britain.

May ended in Spain with frantic attempts to prevent the collapse of the banking system, saddled with a massive amount of toxic loans linked to the housing bubble. The government attempted to involve the European Union in the rescue of Bankia, while there were rumours of IMF plans for a bail out of Spain. Meanwhile miners have gone out an all out strike in defence of jobs.

We publish here an interview made by Erik Demeester - Editor of the Belgian Marxist paper Vonk - with Stamatis Karayannopoulosthe editor of the Greek Marxist Paper Epanastisi and journal Marxistiki Foni.

The ruling class is scaling up its dirty war against SYRIZA, and is drawing together its various political fractions in the hope of preventing a potential electoral victory of SYRIZA in the elections on June 17. From the point of view of SYRIZA, in order to achieve our aim of a Left government, we need to correct eight grave errors and weaknesses.

A spectre is haunting Europe – the spectre of capitalist crisis. Events are moving at lightning speed. This slow-motion train wreck has suddenly speeded up.  Each day we come closer to a Greek default and its exit from the euro. Squeezed by foreign bankers, demanding their pound of flesh, ordinary Greek people are being pushed to the limit. They are being reduced to a state of wretchedness and indignity.

ULU Marxists, Socialist Appeal and www.marxist.com are proud to announce the 2nd Marxist Summer School: Prospects for the World Revolution, this June 15-17 in London. Join us for a packed weekend of discussion and debate on what relevance the theory and programme of the Marxists has in this epoch of world revolution.

The government of Ukraine has proposed further attacks on Ukrainian workers in the form of sweeping changes to labour laws that were set to be voted on in parliament on May 25th. The Ukrainian labour unions and activists did not waste time, responding with demonstrations against the legislation on May 21^st.

The Dutch comrades of Vonk have now published the first edition of their paper in May. This is a big step forward for the IMT in the Netherlands.
The comrades are planning to release at least 4 papers a year. Click on the picture if you are interested in a subscription, or for further information.

The attempt of the ruling class to terrorise the working masses has escalated. The majority of it appears determined to attempt to marginalise their political enemy. The “media”, subservient to the big business, broadcast daily propaganda of a civil war type. The Marxist paper, Revolution is the latest target, being publicly attacked by New Democracy MP Papathanasiou.

In this third and last part of our analysis of the Greek elections we look at the fate of the PASOK, the new situation on the right with the Independent Greeks and the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn - a warning of how things can develop in the future if the Left fails to offer a way out of the impasse - and finally we indicate the programme and tactics that should be adopted in order to unite the left under a revolutionary socialist programme.

The elections in France and Greece represent a fundamental change in the situation. The crisis of European capitalism has entered a new and turbulent stage. A mood of anger is sweeping across Europe. Of course, we understand that election results do not reflect the psychology of the masses with complete accuracy. They are like a snapshot of the mood at a given moment. But it is necessary to analyse election results carefully, since they do show certain trends in society.

The electoral results of the Greek Communist Party (KKE) reveal objectively a serious political failure. Its result of 8.48% (26 MPs) is an increase of its electoral strength by a mere 0.94%, in a situation where hundreds of thousands of workers and youth were moving to the left. While SYRIZA won 800,000 votes, the Communist Party won only 18,823 votes.