Life at the frontier: Samos in 2018
A report from the Greek island of Samos, home to many refugees seeking to enter Europe.
Marooned at Moria: Europe’s suppressed migration crisis
A report from the Moria refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos.
‘But we will stand upright’ – migrant hunger strike in Athens
Migrants awaiting reunification with their families in accordance with EU law have been on hunger strike in Greece and Germany for several days. Ida-Sofie Picard and Will Searby report from Athens. The hunger strike in Syntagma square has been ongoing for eight days now. In Lesvos migrants have been on hunger strike for 15 days. […]
3 perspectives on rs21’s A Day Without Men
The day of discussion included sessions on Corbyn and ‘Corbynomics’, social reproduction and struggles for healthcare and housing, and repression and resistance in Catalonia.
Exposing the far-right in Austria’s Freedom Party
Austria prepares for elections on 15 October which are likely to result in the far-right Freedom Party helping to form the next government. Nick Evans reviews a new book documenting the extremist groups that now dominate the party. Review of: Hans-Henning Scharsach (with Christa Eveline Spitzbart), Stille Machtergreifung: Hofer, Strache und die Burschenschaften [Silent Coup: […]
Scottish solidarity with Catalunya
Pete Cannell of International Socialists Scotland (Scotland rs21) reports back from recent solidarity protests with Calatunya.
Islamophobia in Europe: fuel for the far right
As the encroachment of far right parties grows throughout Europe, with the deployment of overtly racist rhetoric creating those who are deemed ‘real’ Europeans and those deemed a threat, Seb Cooke argues an authentic movement against fascism can only come from working class resistance. The far right and fascists of Europe were celebrating on Sunday […]
Why socialists should oppose the single market
There has been much talk of a post-Brexit “transition period” , that prioritises the UK staying in the single market. Seb Cooke puts the view that this could both strengthen capital and weaken the left. The argument surrounding the so-called Brexit “divorce bill” may seem fairly inconsequential, but it does tell us something about the […]
An error of proximity: Labour’s repositioning misstep
Jonas Liston explores the shift of Corbyn’s Labour away from social-democratic policies in the wake of Brexit, here reproduced with permission from his own site.
#GE2017: Immigration, Labour and the left
Any concession to restricting immigration necessarily involves the notion that immigrants are a problem, and contributes to hostility and racism against all immigrants.
Review: Ali Smith’s Autumn, the first Brexit novel
Kate Bradley argues that Ali Smith’s Autumn is precisely the kind of book about Brexit we don’t need in our changing political climate. Autumn is a novel about Brexit. It’s also a book about Pop Art and family and nostalgia. But it’s mostly about Brexit, and after reading Autumn, it’s pretty clear that Ali Smith […]
revolutionary reflections | The Crisis in German Politics and the Rise of the Radical Right
2016 has been a year in which right – wing and authoritarian agendas have been in the ascendant. With the French and German elections next year we will see if this trend continues. By focusing on the case of Germany, Adam Blanden puts forward an argument for the left to counter-pose the right with a […]
revolutionary reflections | For Another Europe (Part 2) The European Social Model (ESM), Social Partnership and the ETUC
With Brexit the EU has never been a more controversial and critical issue for left political strategy. In the second of a two part piece, a Unite activist looks at the incorporation of the leadership of the labour movement within the EU project and draws conclusions for left strategy. Introduction In part 2 we will move […]
revolutionary reflections | For Another Europe (Part 1)
With Brexit the EU has never been a more controversial and critical issue for left political strategy. In the first of a two part piece A Unite Rep reviews Guglielmo Carchedi’s classic Marxist analysis of the EU. The second part looking at the incorporation of the labour movement within the EU project will appear in […]
Is a People’s Brexit possible?
How do we respond to the right wing chorus over Brexit and the threat of Farage to organise a 100,000 strong march? Should we line up with the pro-EU centre of British politics that would like to overturn the referendum result? Seb Cooke argues here that we can only undermine Theresa May’s ‘Brexit for the […]
Everyone Who Is Here Is From Here
Saturday 5 November 2016, 10.00 – 16:30, Capstan House, 1 Clove Crescent, London E14 – near East India DLR The EU referendum campaign and its aftermath have brought to the surface the constant scapegoating of migrants and immigration by both the far right and ‘respectable’ politicians from all parties. Migrants and minorities are blamed for […]
Tim Farron – no friend to refugees
Seb Cooke discusses why Tim Farron, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, is no friend to refugees Tim Farron gave a speech at the Lib Dem conference on Tuesday where he told a story about the time he was handing out water to refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos. In his story, as he […]
Britain’s political shakeup
Jonny Jones assesses the state of play in the Tory Party following Theresa May’s assumption of the leadership and the challenge to Jeremy Corbyn’s position as Labour leader.
Unite conference backs Corbyn and mandatory reselection of MPs
Ian Allinson gives a second update on Unite Policy Conference which took major decisions on migration, industrial strategy, backing Jeremy Corbyn and mandatory re-selection of MPs, fracking and climate change.
Reactions to Brexit: the March for Europe
Last Saturday, 2 July 2016, over 100,000 people marched through central London to protest against the outcome of the recent British referendum on EU membership. Bettina Trabant reports. The march, organised on social media, set off from Park Lane and finished in Parliament Square where people listened to a wide array of speeches, including those […]
Brexit and beyond: interview with Gareth Dale
Gareth Dale was interviewed by the Romanian left-wing site CriticAtac about the what Brexit will now mean in Britain and more widely in Europe. Here we republish their interview. CriticAtac: So, Brexit has won. Nonetheless, it is not entirely clear what this entails and, indeed, if anything really major has happened so far. What are the […]
After the Brexit vote we have to expect the unexpected
Mike Haynes reflects on the results of last week’s EU referendum Do you have a clue where we are going and what position to take? Did you see it coming? The imploding Labour Party? This is the world of the unknown unknowns. The Brexit vote has ripped up their rule book. It is having the […]
12 thoughts on racism and anti-racism after the referendum
The racism evident on both sides of the recent EU referendum campaigns, as well as the huge rise in racist attacks following the result, shows the need for a strong, united, radical and popular anti-racism. Jonas Liston offers 12 thoughts on where we are post-referendum and how to build the movement we need.
Post #Brexit vote: taking on the challenge of ‘acceptable racism’
Kat Burdon-Manley analyses reasons behind the vote in last week’s EU referendum and discusses where now Racism in Britain has been on the rise since the start of the recession. We have witnessed the increasing popularity of UKIP, the shift to the right and acceptance of racism by the Labour Party and the structural racism […]
After Brexit: Keeping our heads when all around are losing theirs
By Rob Owen June 24th was a dark morning. Colleagues at school arrived shell shocked at a result no one expected. Friend after friend asked in worried tones what the result would mean. Meshed with disbelief were two common fears: that Britain had crashed into economic chaos and that a previously hidden, racist and narrow […]
With Corbyn, but beyond Parliament
Andrew Stone argues that movement around Corbyn has created great potential for socialists to organise and debate about how fundamental change can be realised. The co-ordinated post-Referendum resignations from the Shadow Cabinet to unseat Jeremy Corbyn will have come as a surprise to few. Indeed, they closely follow the plan leaked to the Daily Telegraph […]
Over 1000 protest in London to show solidarity with migrants and refugees
Duncan Thomas reports On 23 June, Britain voted to leave the EU. The next day, we took the first steps in meeting the challenges ahead. Estimates vary, but between 1200 and 1500 people came out in solidarity with refugees and migrants, marching from Altab Ali Park in East London to Murdoch’s New Corp HQ. The […]
Demonstrate in London TODAY against racism and in solidarity with migrants
The EU referendum has unleashed a torrent of racism. Migration has been attacked and scapegoated by both campaigns – with Leave stoking up bigotry against immigrants and Remain responding by capitulating and echoing that bigotry. This tone of anti-immigrant politics has not been set by the far right. It comes from the mainstream parties […]
Why socialists should support a British exit
Building on arguments made in previous articles, Neil Davidson lays out why he believes socialists should vote to leave the EU.
Join the demo on 24 June
Demonstrate against racism, for migrant rights, against fascist violence – on the day after the EU referendum.