Category: News & Analysis
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France: 17 October mobilisations put revolution on the agenda
The massive wave of protests in France on Saturday was a militant escalation of a movement that has swept the country and is striking fear in the heart of the Macron government. Despite brutal repression, workers and youth have continued to mobilise in increasing numbers. With a bold, revolutionary programme, these protests have the potential…
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Unionist establishment draw line at Good Jobs Bill
True to form, Sinn Féin and the DUP have found themselves at loggerheads in Stormont. This time over SF’s proposed ‘Good Jobs Bill’, which seeks to improve workers’ rights in the North of Ireland. Predictably, the DUP are digging their heels in, cynically claiming the bill “risks costing NI jobs”. Though the exact legal text…
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No to data centre in Naas
Kildare County Council has recently granted permission for the building of a €3 Billion data centre in Jigginstown, Naas. Such a site is expected to consume three times as much electricity as the entirety of county Kildare, as well as using 18,000 litres of water every day. This is coming at a time when our…
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Germany: elections in Berlin and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania another blow to the CDU
Two weeks after the political earthquake in Saxony-Anhalt, the state elections in Berlin and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania have dealt another blow to the ruling CDU-SPD coalition. Chancellor Friedrich Merz is in a difficult position. Visibly shaken on election night, he vowed to continue with his government’s programme of ‘reforms’ – read: an all-out assault on pensions,…
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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…