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The Egyptian revolution, following on
rapidly from the Tunisian uprising, has sent shockwaves across the whole
of the Arab world. All the serious strategists of capital are
discussing the “domino effect” of the events unfolding in Egypt. None of
them, however, had anticipated any of this.
There are just over three months to go before the elections for the
Scottish parliament, which take place on May 5th. Aside from the
contest itself the Scottish electorate is left with the knowledge that,
whoever wins the election, massive cuts are set to follow after the
Nationalist Scottish Government set a budget in December clearly aimed
at winning this election.
In light of the recent student
demonstrations, particularly the events at Milbank tower during the
first protest, the question of "direct action” tactics has once again
been raised.
The posters are going up on the lamp posts
and the tourists and the European lorry drivers are starting to drive
round in circles looking for road signs obliterated by the airbrushed
smiles of party hopefuls. But this is no ordinary election. The election
on February 25th will represent a snapshot of the political fallout
from the economic collapse and the farcical slide into chaos of the
Fianna Fáil/Green Party coalition. Farcical that is, except
for the calamity that the government’s policies have created for the
working class people of Ireland.
One of the salient features of a
revolution is that the masses conquer the fear of the state and
repression. This has been graphically demonstrated on the streets of
Egypt. At the same time the surge of a mass upheaval breaks the taboos
in the psychology of the soldiers and the army begins to cleave on a
class basis. A rare fraternity between the security forces and the
masses, whom they are supposed to crush, develops as the revolution
blossoms.
“The sky was filled with rocks. The
fighting around me was so terrible we could smell the blood.” With these
words Robert Fisk describes the dramatic events in Tahrir Square, where
the forces of the Revolution met the counterrevolution head-on. All day
and all through the night, a ferocious battle raged in the Square and
the surrounding streets.
The revolution in Egypt is reaching a
critical point. The old state power is collapsing under the hammer blows
of the masses but revolution is a struggle of living forces. The old
regime does not intend to surrender without a fight. The
counterrevolutionary forces are going onto the offensive. There is
ferocious fighting on the streets of Cairo between pro- and anti-Mubarak
elements.
The
whole of Egypt is now in a precarious balance. That same precariousness
applies to the role of the armed forces, the sole remaining fulcrum of
the regime. On paper it is a formidable force, as solid as the
aforementioned pyramid. But armies are composed of human beings, and are
subject to the same pressures as any other social stratum or
institution.
An Emergency Motion in support of the Arab workers was passed at a meeting of the West Midlands TUC on Saturday, January 29th. It was agreed to forward it to the Regional TUC and to all affiliated Trades Union Councils.
We have now entered a critical period. The cuts are no longer on the
horizon; they are knocking at the door. Over the next few months, local
councils will be finalising annual budgets for the next financial year,
agreeing what services should be reduced or cut and increasing charges
for those which remain. For the labour and trade union movement the
time for talk has passed, action is now needed.
According to the Bundesbank, German
GDP grew by 3.6% in 2010. This comes after the steep 4.7% drop in 2009,
when the recession hit Germany hard. Unemployment has gone down from the
10.5% peak of 2005 to 7%. It now stands at just under three million.
Volkswagen is taking on 3,000 workers, BMW and Daimler 400 each.
Lufthansa has announced plans to take on an extra 4,000 staff this year.
The same picture can be seen in chemicals, electronics and other
industries. When the rest of Europe is facing lay-offs and sluggish
growth, what is different about Germany?
After a much criticized silence, Hosni Mubarak has finally made a
statement regarding the protests. The initial reaction to the speech was
one of anger. Mubarak’s speech was quite predictable, basically
praising the poor, promising reform and what not. Even though these
blatant lies that reek of condescension are enough reason to ignite the
streets of Egypt with fury, it was Mubarak’s last statement that angered
the people the most.