News

Coronavirus crisis exposes the myth of a progressive EU

The coronavirus crisis has exposed political leaders as wanting. The systematic bungling by Boris Johnson’s government is summed up by the fact that he, his health secretary and the chief medical adviser have all tested positive for the virus.

Coronavirus crisis is a big blow to neoliberalism

If you want a sense of how bad the crisis is, just look at Boris Johnson’s face

Rulers want to cure capitalism of virus

We’ve already learned two important things in the Covid-19 crisis. The first is that the future is here.

Bosses’ virus fears are only for profits

“New data paint grim picture of coronavirus fallout,” read a headline in the Financial Times newspaper last week. My heart sank when I saw it. But when I anxiously scanned the article, it wasn’t about the spread of the coronavirus or the deaths it is causing.

Erdogan’s imperial play comes undone

The Brazilian Marxist Ruy Mauro Marini coined the concept of “sub-imperialism” back in the 1960s. The concept applies perfectly to Turkey under president Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Labour leadership don’t inspire hope

Why is the Labour Party leadership election so depressing? Clearly it has something to do with the line-up. In all probability it will come down to the choice between Keir Starmer, the shadow Brexit secretary, and Rebecca Long-Bailey, the candidate of the left.

Coronavirus shows capitalism is sick

It is still too early to say how serious an epidemic Covid?19—as the latest coronavirus outbreak is now known—will prove to be.

Israel supporters are on a new offensive

The Witchhunt smearing anti-Zionists as antisemites has moved on to new targets

The left must move on from Brexit splits

“I have taken great care not to deride, bewail, or execrate human actions, but to understand them, ” the great philosopher Baruch Spinoza wrote in the Introduction to his Political Treatise, unfinished when he died in 1677.

Britain in firing line of US-EU trade war

China and the United States have agreed to a truce in the trade war they have been waging for the past two years. What is supposed to be “phase one” of a larger trade deal was signed in Washington last week.

Can Boris Johnson get an EU trade deal done?

Now Boris Johnson really has to “get Brexit done”. Formally leaving the European Union (EU) on 31 January is one thing. Settling the real relationship between Britain and what will remain its biggest market is quite another.

Why Donald Trump can’t win in Iran

It’s clear who the losers were in the confrontation between the United States and Iran.

What's behind antisemitism slurs?

The Tories and the Blairites within the Labour Party quickly realised after Jeremy Corbyn’s election as Labour leader that the antisemitism slur was their most effective weapon against him.

Ukraine shows splits in the US ruling class

There’s a large element of accident in how Ukraine has come to dominate the impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump

Neoliberalism takes revenge in Bolivia

Bad things have been happening lately in Latin America. But the worst to date is the right wing coup in Bolivia

Spending smears are a sign of the storm ahead

No general election would be complete without the Tories denouncing Labour for its irresponsible fiscal plans. The classic example was the 1992 campaign, when John Major’s team first warned against “Labour’s Tax Bombshell”, soon to be followed by “Labour’s Double Whammy—1. More Taxes, 2. Higher Prices.”