Keir Starmer has removed left-winger Rebecca Long-Bailey from the Shadow Cabinet, once again using anti-semitism smears to attack the left. The pretence of ‘unity’ has been shattered. Activists must prepare for battle.
We continue our series on the English Revolution by republishing Alan Woods’ response to a BBC documentary on the English Civil War. Subscribe to Marxist Voice to listen to Alan Woods’ podcast on this revolutionary episode.
Boris Johnson has announced that the UK will emerge from its “long national hibernation” on 4 July, as the economy reopens, against scientifc advice. The Tories are openly split, under the conflicting pressures of saving profits and lives.
Alex Vitale’s illuminating book highlights that the police are an integral part of the oppression and exploitation of the capitalist system. To end racism and inequality, we need to abolish the police – and abolish capitalism.
As society begins to reopen, the ruling class is hoping for a return to ‘normality’. But the future will look nothing like the past. A deep depression looms, threatening to throw us back to the 1930s. We must fight for revolution.
Under pressure from the mass movement, Sadiq Khan has launched a review into London monuments. Beyond these gestures, however, nothing has been done to challenge the racism in the Metropolitan Police. Racist police practices continue unabated.
A strong campaign by footballer Marcus Rashford has forced a U-turn from the Tory government, achieving more than Starmer’s sterile leadership has in months. Workers need a real opposition that will take the fight to the Tories.
The dire situation for workers in the face of the bosses’ attacks has sparked a rise in trade union membership in the UK. With Labour shifting right under Starmer, we need organisation and militant action to fight for workers’ rights.
The British establishment is attempting to divert the movement against racism down safe-channels – turning the struggle into a polarising ‘culture war’, and offering tokenistic gestures. Instead, we must fight for socialist change.
Universities face a £2.6bn loss due to the pandemic, which will be made up through attacks on workers. Meanwhile, students are paying through the roof for rent as though nothing has changed.
The Black Lives Matter movement has reignited the Rhodes Must Fall campaign in Oxford, which aims to challenge the university’s racism and colonial legacy. We need mass action to tear down these statues – and tear down capitalism.
We continue our series on the English Revolution by republishing an article by Dudley Edwards on the Levellers. Subscribe to Marxist Voice to listen to Alan Woods’ podcast on this revolutionary episode from history.