Britain: #Partygate – Johnson clings on but big problems await 'Big Dog' Despite all the damning evidence of his crimes and misdemeanours, Boris Johnson is refusing to go. 'Operation Save Big Dog', as Johnson himself christened his bid to save his political career, seems to have succeeded – for now. Neither the Gray report into illegal Downing Street parties, nor Tory backbenchers will force him to step down. Instead, workers and youth must mobilise to kick out the whole lot.
Iran tower collapse: workers and poor sacrificed on the altar of profit Crowds of people have been gathering in the streets of Abadan, Iran, chanting slogans against local officials and the owner of a building that collapsed on Monday, leaving at least 10 people dead and 40 injured. The Metropol twin tower complex consisted of two, 10-storey buildings, one of which had been finalised and one that was still under construction. After the latter collapsed on Tuesday, its twin tower also collapsed on Wednesday, while rescue operations were still underway.
French legislative elections: the flaws and dangers of Mélenchon’s coalition The NUPES (New Ecological and Social Popular Union) list, led by La France Insoumise (FI), is seen by left-wing workers and youth as the best vehicle to strike blows against the right in June’s legislative elections. The French Marxists critically support voting for NUPES candidates. But we must say that this alliance with discredited, right-wing reformist parties risks demobilising FI’s support base, and will undermine their ability to carry out social reforms in government, in the event of an NUPES majority.
[Audio] USA: abortion rights under attack – fight back with class struggle! The Supreme Court’s position on Roe v. Wade would ban abortion access for millions of people in the US. In this podcast episode, Laura Brown (editor of Socialist Revolution) and Joel Bergman (editor of Fightback) discuss the reasons and impact of a repeal of Roe v. Wade, and provide a Marxist perspective to fight back against this egregious attack on abortion rights.
Lebanon elections: Hezbollah loses majority as independents break through As the Lebanese elections draw to a close, it is clear that a major shift is taking place in the balance of power. The March 8 Alliance, a coalition of Hezbollah, Haraket Amal, and the Christian Free Patriotic Movement, has lost the majority they have held since 2018. They were reduced from 71 seats, which gave them a majority, to 58 seats, whilst the opposition Christian Lebanese Forces (LF) surged forward. Alongside the two traditional sectarian opposition parties, a new wave of independent candidates has also broken through. Thirteen independent candidates won seats under a broad banner called ‘Change’.
USA: workers begin the long fight against Amazon The Amazon Labor Union (ALU) has fired labor’s opening shots against the retail giant. Their organizing campaign at Staten Island warehouse JFK8 led to an electrifying victory in the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) vote. Workers at the smaller LDJ5 warehouse held a similar vote shortly after that, but the ALU lost with 380 votes in favor and 618 votes against, with over a third of the workers not voting. One obstacle the union faced was the higher percentage of part-time employees at the smaller facility. Nonetheless, the ALU has a .500 batting average so far, which is impressive since it is trying to unionize through the NLRB, whose rules overwhelmingly favor management.
Lenin and Bolshevism: the significance of the RSDLP Second Congress There are many myths surrounding Lenin and the Bolsheviks – particularly regarding the origins of the revolutionary party in Russia. Rob Sewell examines an important chapter from the history of Bolshevism, and the lessons for Marxists today.
Racist right-wing terror in Buffalo and the decline of American capitalism Sunday morning in Buffalo, NY saw scenes of horror as a white supremacist terrorist opened fire at a supermarket, murdering ten people and injuring three more. Almost all of those killed were Black, as the shooter had intentionally targeted a grocery store with a majority-Black clientele. This is an utter tragedy and an attack on the entire working class.
Baby formula shortage: capitalism fails America’s infants Over the past few weeks, a shortage of baby formula has grown into a nationwide crisis, leaving millions of families scrambling for safe food for their infants. With an out-of-stock rate of over40%, many parents are driving for miles and waiting weeks for backlogged deliveries—if they can find the right formula for their babies in the first place. A function of the irrational nature of the capitalist market, formula first started disappearing from store...
Iran: bread subsidy cuts, inflation and the converging class struggle Since last week, spontaneous protests have been breaking out in Iran following cuts to subsidies on basic foodstuffs, combined with spiralling inflation. Prices for staples like cooking oil, chicken, milk and eggs have abruptly raised by as much as 300 percent. In past weeks, the price of a kilogram of flour has increased by 500 percent. Subsidy cuts have also caused a 169 percent surge in the price of pasta. This is creating a desperate situation for the masses, provoking a backlash that is combining with workers’ struggles, resulting in an explosive mix.
Political crisis and the struggle for the Constituent Assembly in Peru During the first months of Pedro Castillo's government, his constant concessions to the oligarchic right have become ever clearer. The more Castillo yields, the more the attacks against him intensify.
Argentina: after the resounding success of the Federal March, what next? On 12 May, the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (INDEC) reported that inflation in April was 6%, pushing annualised inflation up to 58%, its highest level in thirty years. On the same day, hundreds of thousands of protesters arrived in Buenos Aires from all over the country, filling the Plaza de Mayo to participate in the Federal March organised by the unemployed workers’ organisation, Unidad Piquetera. The protest denounced hunger and poverty, and demanded work and wages.
The Greek Revolution of 1821: heroism, betrayal and the birth of modern Greece The French Revolution initiated a decades-long phase of bourgeois revolutions across Europe and beyond that raised the flags of democracy, national liberation, and civil rights against the injustices of the feudal system. These political convulsions prepared the ground for the international ascendancy of the capitalist system in the nineteenth century. Yet in most countries, the democratic promises of the bourgeois revolution remained largely unfulfilled. The Greek war of independence that began over 200 years ago was no exception.
Crisis, protectionism and inflation: war prepares the way for revolution The crisis in Ukraine has created a perfect inflationary storm. The war, the western sanctions on Russia, the pandemic, protectionism and climate change are unravelling decades of low commodity prices in a crisis that is only getting deeper.
Swedish Marxists say: fight NATO – fight imperialism! US imperialism is the strongest force on the planet behind continued capitalist exploitation, poverty and misery. Now, the Swedish government has decided that it is in the interests of Swedish imperialism to join the US-led war alliance, NATO. We say: Fight NATO, fight imperialism – long live international working-class solidarity!