Every day brings ever-worsening forecasts of disaster for ordinary people, as bills rise and vulnerable families are pushed into fuel poverty. Whilst millions freeze, energy bosses are raking in mega-profits. We say: expropriate the billionaires!

Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev, the final leader of the Soviet Union, died yesterday at the age of 91. His policies of reforming the USSR ‘from above’, under the banner of glasnost and perestroika, represented an abortive attempt to maintain the privileges of the Stalinist bureaucracy, while also breaking through some of the worst logjams in the Soviet economy. The inevitable failure of these measures opened up the door for the restoration of capitalism in Russia, the destruction of the planned economy, and the impoverishment of millions. This disaster is Gorbachev’s legacy.

Over the summer of 1911, workers in Liverpool brought the city to a standstill. A strike that started in shipping rapidly spread to the docks and all transport. With the class struggle in Britain now heating up, this period contains important lessons for today.

A wave of wildcat strikes has swept across Britain – in the construction industry and at Amazon warehouses – as workers’ anger reaches boiling point. This is a harbinger of the huge class battles on the horizon. The unions must prepare for war.

The German government is being forced to ration hot water; street lights are being dimmed; and special heated halls are being set up for those who can’t afford central heating – in a country where winter temperatures regularly drop well below freezing. Many Germans are stocking up on wood to burn for warmth, as many predict that gas supplies will completely or nearly run out by early 2023. These are the grim prospects faced by the working class in the economic powerhouse of Europe.

Since June, the Netherlands has seen a new wave of militant, 40,000-strong farmers’ protests, aimed against government plans to reduce the emission of nitrogen compounds. These protests have reached the international media, with videos proliferating of heavy tractors blocking roads and supermarket distribution centres, and dumping manure outside the homes of politicians. What lies behind these protests, what class interests do they represent, and what is the position of the Marxists towards them?

A mass fightback against the ruling class’ attacks is beginning, with strikes and grassroots movements building. To win, workers and youth must be armed with a militant strategy, bold socialist policies, and a clear revolutionary perspective.

The latest economic predictions from the Bank of England provide a foreboding warning of the inflation and austerity that lies ahead for the working class in Britain. Only bold socialist policies can combat this capitalist catastrophe.

Strikes are on the rise. Even barristers are taking action. Police are warning of potential riots over food and fuel prices. Meanwhile, fractures are emerging across the apparatus of the state. Revolutionary explosions are being prepared. We republish this article from 22 June, originally published at socialist.net.

With the Tories in turmoil, and the class struggle sharpening, the Labour leadership is straining to prove what a safe pair of hands it would be for the capitalists. It is clear whose side Keir Starmer is on: that of the bosses, not the workers.

On the 20-23rd July, two comrades from the Marxist Student Federation were invited to attend the third Gazte Topagune Sozialista (Socialist Youth Gathering) held by GKS and the Ikasle Abertzaleak student organisation in the Basque Country. We were also joined by a comrade from Lucha de Clases, the section of the IMT in the Spanish State. GKS is a new socialist youth organisation in the Basque Country, with the aim of building a classless society with a particular slant against the class collaborationist tactics of the social democrats. 

Whilst Sweden is often portrayed internationally as an egalitarian – even a ‘socialist’ country – the reality is that today it is one of the most unequal countries in the world, as demonstrated in the newly published book, ‘Sweden of the Greedy: how the welfare state became a paradise for the super-rich’. Moreover, as the recent sell-out of the Kurds reveals, the Swedish ruling class are vicious imperialists whose concern for ‘human rights’ is sheer hypocrisy.

In her bid to become the next Tory leader and PM, Liz Truss has pledged to bring in a host of new anti-union legislation. Trade union leaders have responded defiantly. This must be matched with militant struggle and bold united action.

The following resolution was passed unanimously, at the end of April, at the Banja Luka congress of the Yugoslav section of the IMT by Marxist delegates that had gathered from across the former Yugoslavia, from Serbia, Bosnia Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Slovenia and Croatia.

The resignation of Boris Johnson has opened up a new chapter in the crisis of British capitalism. The working class is reawakening. A new generation is moving into struggle. We must build the forces of Marxism to prepare for these titanic events.