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Central to the current crisis in Greece is the question of debt – particularly the national debt. Reducing public debt has became the main aim of (and reason for) the seemingly permanent austerity forced on the Greek working class. Fred Weston continues his series on the deep crisis of Greek capitalism by exploring the origins of the high debt levels in Greece.
Ballots go out today for the latest Labour leadership election. Despite the best efforts of the Blairites and the Establishment, Jeremy Corbyn is on course to comfortably win the contest – possibly by an even larger margin than last year. This would mark a major blow against Labour’s right-wing MPs. Vote for Corbyn! Fight for socialism!
A number of political donations to a new, shadowy organisation, “Labour Tomorrow”, have recently come to light after being declared to the electoral commission. This organisation, established by prominent Blairites such as Lord Blunkett and Baroness Dean, is another attempt by the right wing to counter the influence of Momentum and of Corbyn’s supporters on the left of the party, and is being touted as the potential organising centre of a split in coming months.
Byron Burger, the high-end restaurant chain owned by Ex-Etonian, Tom Byng, once dubbed ‘The Bourgeois Burger King’ by the London Evening Standard, has become a new flashpoint in Britain’s post-Brexit immigration row.
Fred Weston continues his series on the crisis in Greece by looking at the question of productivity. Having joined the euro in 2001, the Greek economy cannot compete on the basis of its level of productivity against the stronger European capitalist economies, such as Germany. Instead, it must seek an “internal devaluation”. This is the meaning of austerity.
A little over five years since the shooting by police of Mark Duggan in Tottenham and two years since the beginning of the movement in the USA, Black Lives Matter (BLM) has finally taken shape in Britain. To commemorate Duggan’s death and continue to challenge police racism, big protests were organised in London, Birmingham, Manchester and Nottingham on 5th August, as well as smaller ones elsewhere around the country.
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On his way out of the door, former Prime Minister David Cameron left his honours list as a farewell gift. The people nominated on the list ranged from stylists to drivers and from MPs to special advisers. Among those selected for a knighthood were two Tory MPs. In terms of providing service to the public their record appears rather questionable.
The suffering of the Greek people is deep, very deep. Austerity is pushing larger and larger sections of the population into poverty – a direct consequence of the cuts imposed by the Troika. Fred Weston continues his series on the crisis in Greece, looking at the very real human impact of austerity
Following the shock of the Brexit vote, Britain has now joined the centre of the world crisis of capitalism. Already in a fragile state, confidence in the British economy has plummeted, prompting the Bank of England to intervene. However with the world economy still in deep crisis, the Bank’s measures will be like trying to stick a plaster over a gaping wound.
The historic crisis of European capitalism expresses itself most graphically in the existential crisis of the European Union. This throws up a number of questions for Marxists on the nature of the EU and the attitude of Marxists to the idea of European integration. We publish here a reading guide on the question of Marxism and the European Union.