News

Europe’s centre ground is crumbling beneath Angela Merkel’s feet

In the endless discussions about Brexit, it’s commonly assumed that the British side is weak and confused and the European Union (EU) is strong and united. The first is true, the second not so much.

Fiddling the figures can’t end Tory crisis

Philip Hammond, the Tory chancellor, likes to present himself as a safe pair of hands. He’s nicknamed “spreadsheet Phil”. Boring maybe, but reliable. But he’s been responsible for two of the biggest media pratfalls of the present government, which is saying something.

Saudi-Iran rivalry is behind new turmoil

Saudi Arabia has mostly been a stable pillar of the imperialist order in the Middle East.

Erratic Trump gives a boost to US rivals

Anyone who's watched Ken Burns’s flawed but absorbing documentary about the Vietnam War must have been struck by the interplay between presidential politics in Washington and the rhythm of combat in Southeast Asia.

After Heaton-Harris - what are the real threats to academic freedom?

Was the Heaton-Harris affair just a storm in a teacup? Christopher Heaton-Harris is the pro-Leave Tory whip who wrote to university vice-chancellors asking for information about “professors involved in the teaching of European affairs, with particular reference to Brexit”.

Catalan struggle can damage smug bosses

“When the first reports of serious disorders in Catalonia were reaching Madrid, the English ambassador wrote home that he saw ‘nothing in the business that is hard to settle’.”

The European Union vs Theresa May—neither side is progressive

The Brexit negotiations will probably stay stuck after this week’s meeting of the European Council.

Mariano Rajoy’s repression in Spain props up the European Union too

“When one joins the civil guard, one declares civil war,” wrote the novelist Ramon Sender in 1936, the year his native Spain disintegrated into war.

Marx’s masterwork is as relevant as ever

On 14 September 1867 Karl Marx’s Capital, Volume I, was published in Hamburg.

Nato hypocrites are feeding the drive to war

The conflict is a consequence of the US decision, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, to expand Nato

Brexit isn’t just a problem for the Tories

Predictably enough, negotiations between the Tory government and the European Commission over the terms of Brexit are running into difficulty.

Time ticks away on the Tories’ collapsing cabinet

Tony Blair's latest intervention in the Brexit debate shows him to be unusually self-deluding even by his standards. He still doesn’t seem to understand that every time he opens his mouth he damages whatever cause he’s supporting.

The Labour right’s Brexit bungle helps the Tories

The way forward for the left is not to defend the indefensible neoliberal EU

Jeremy Corbyn was right to link West's war with Manchester attack

Whatever happens in the election, Jeremy Corbyn has earned his place in history. He did this last Friday when he didn’t flee in the face of the Tory attempts to exploit the Manchester atrocity.

Tony Cliff matters for socialists today

Tony Cliff was born 100 years ago last weekend, on 20 May 1917. Brought up a Palestinian Jew, he came to Britain in 1946.

Labour right haven’t a hope - or a clue

The press denunciations of Labour’s leaked draft manifesto have been predictable. “Corbyn’s misguided bid to turn the clock back,” spluttered the Financial Times, “Corbyn’s fantasy land”, the Mail.

Theresa May promises more than she can deliver on Brexit

Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission, has of course played into Theresa May’s hands. He let his staff leak a thoroughly disparaging account of a dinner she gave for him at Downing Street to a German conservative newspaper.

The not-so-decisive 100 days of Trump

The idea that a US president’s first 100 days in office should be decisive goes back to Franklin Roosevelt in 1933.

Don’t make alliances with the right wing

The idea of a “progressive alliance” is back in fashion. It has been supported both by Caroline Lucas of the Greens and Nicola Sturgeon of the Scottish National Party (SNP).

Donald Trump - the war president will crash into reality

Missiles in Syria, a mega-bomb in Afghanistan, a potential nuclear confrontation in Korea—what happened to the Donald Trump who ran as a critic of US foreign wars?