The Tory victories in the local elections on May 1st
mean that the Conservatives will almost certainly go on to win the next general
election and form the next government. Theoretically the Labour leadership
could turn the situation round, but they seem incapable of changing their
disastrous course. New Labour is in meltdown.
Iceland and Ireland had some of the highest GDP rates in Europe over a 15 year boom: so-called “Nordic and Celtic tigers.” Both diversified into software, biotechnology and financial services, and a property boom, but Iceland built up a trade deficit of 16% of GDP in 2007 (U.S was 5%, Spain 10%); all unsustainable. Now the boom`s over, Iceland faces a currency collapse and attacks by speculators, as the Krona has lost 36% against the Euro in 2008 alone (April), inflation is over 5%, housing`s unsold, central bank interest rates are over 15%, and private debt is astronomical. The problems […]
Lenin is probably the most slandered individual of the 20th century. As
leader of the Russian Revolution of 1917, he has been attacked by
bourgeois academics, Tory, Labour and Liberal politicians as well as
Establishment figures internationally. His ideas have been distorted
and twisted. His actions have been vilified. So what did Lenin
really stand for? And are his ideas still relevant today?
A
thousand people gathered in London on Thursday’s 2008 May Day to march through
the streets of the capital in celebration of International Workers’ Day. In
light of recent and threatening developments in Bolivia, different campaigns came together
to organise a joint meeting after the demonstration. The
energy and enthusiasm of the meeting boldly reflected the impact that Latin
American revolutions are having on people here in Britain demonstrating that the May Day spirit
is very much alive and kicking.
On 4th May 1919 Chinese people marched to end backwardness in China and
humiliation by the imperialist powers. They were led by Chen Duxiu. Chen realised that the modernisation of China could only be carried out by
the working class and founded the Chinese Communist Party in 1921. For a
hundred years the Chinese have engeged on the long and tortuous march to
modernisation.
Present-day economic
conditions demand that the working class fight back. The interests of the
ruling class and the working class are irreconcilable. The bourgeois are
screaming, "more cuts, more cuts" and the workers shout back
"Enough is enough". The stage has been set for a "Hot
Spring" in Europe.
“While many are worrying about filling their gas tanks, many
others around the world are struggling to fill their stomachs,” says Robert Zoellick, head of the World Bank. We are
confronted with actual starvation. He warns that the present food crisis will
give us “seven lost years.” It means “lost learning potential for
children…stunted intellectual and physical growth.” His colleague at the IMF,
Dominique Strauss Kahn, concurs. He foresees that “hundreds of thousands of
people will be starving.”