Category: News & Analysis
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No money for schools, but plenty for Stormont MLAs
The new school year should bring a fresh start. New teachers, new classmates, new ambitions. Instead, thousands of children across the North are returning to the same crumbling buildings. Why? Apparently, there is no money for repairs. Stormont’s Department of Education has decided to scrap thousands of outstanding minor works applications. These are not luxuries,…
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France: “Generation 6-7 doing May ‘68 all over again”
6 October – the third act of the school students’ protests that have rocked France since the beginning of the school year – represented yet another escalation of the movement. The demonstrations were huge everywhere. According to the organisers, school and university student organisations, 100,000 marched in Paris alone, and a total of 450,000 marched…
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Budget 2027 and the 14 October strike
The cold air of Winter that’s creeping into working-class homes costing a fortune to heat is in sharp contrast to the rapidly rising temperature of the class struggle across Europe. In Spain, President Sánchez has announced snap elections in response to militant housing protests. French school students and trade union militants are meanwhile fighting against…
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New citizenship rules scapegoat migrant workers
The Fianna Fáil-Fine Gael government once again goes on the attack against migrants. Their goal is to convince native Irish workers that immigration is the main cause of their declining living standards… and that the government is doing everything it can about it. According to new rules, migrants wishing to become naturalised Irish citizens will…
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Britain: Burnham’s token sanctions on Israel change nothing
Last week, the UK government announced a ban on trade with illegal Israeli settlements. The government has presented these measures as Britain standing “for fairness against injustice”, but the reality is that these cynical politicians stand for nothing. [Originally published on Marxist.com] On 8 September, new Foreign Secretary, Ed Miliband, announced that the UK would…
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Spain: Sánchez calls early elections – the streets demand a general strike
The last ten days have turned Spanish politics upside down. The eviction of 87-year-old private renter, Maricarmen, from her flat in Sainz de Baranda street in Madrid on 23 September set off a chain of events which very few expected, but which nevertheless were implicit in the situation. Housing has been a major issue in Spain for…
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‘Let them all burn’: Ireland, crisis and class anger
The thirteenth issue of the Revolutionary Communist is coming out this week! Read the editorial of this issue below, and set up a physical or digital subscription now. Or meet us at one of our regular stalls to buy a copy directly from our comrades. Every subscription and paper bought will help us strengthen the revolutionary press, produce more…
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Bond market troubles reveal impending crisis
The US government is having to pay increasing amounts of interest to borrow money. For the first time since 2007, interest on its 10-year debt has reached five percent. The crisis in the bond markets reflects the pressures arising from the Hormuz crisis, protectionism and the chaotic AI buildout. It is revealing all the contradictions…
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Plugging leaks – Ireland’s crumbling water infrastructure
With long, warm summers set to become the norm for Europe, the crisis of Ireland’s water infrastructure is reaching boiling point. At the end of July, a nationwide hosepipe ban was brought in and has been extended until the end of September across half the state. Uisce Éireann (UÉ) have justified the ban based on…
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The ghosts of Drumcree
On the morning of Sunday 27 September, it seemed the North stood on the brink of the abyss. As the Orange Order was gearing up for a march down the Garvaghy Road, loyalists gathered in Portadown city centre to welcome them. Thousands of residents from the mainly nationalist area, meanwhile, linked arms to blockade the…